A Boeing 747 with the color scheme of planes used by the Qatari royal family is parked at San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Tex., on May 2.Brandon Lingle/The Associated Press
On the first foreign trip of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump was aiming to cast himself as dealmaker-in-chief, announcing hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of business agreements across Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
But one prospective transaction has captured virtually all the attention this week: the gift of a “palace in the sky” jet for Mr. Trump’s use from the Qatari royal family.
Quite apart from the optics of the leader of the world’s wealthiest democracy travelling in hardware donated by an autocratic fiefdom, the idea has raised serious conflict-of-interest concerns and may be prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
The President, for his part, has insisted that only a “stupid person” would turn down a “free, very expensive airplane.”
That last part, however, is another reason the proposed gift may never come to pass. Given the special security and operational requirements of any plane that serves as Air Force One, the Qatari jet would not actually be free: U.S. taxpayers would have to shell out a lot of money – possibly more than the value of the plane – to retrofit it.
Here is what to know about the Doha donnybrook.
The backstory
Qatar Air Force F-15 jets perform a flyover as Air Force One is ready to depart from Al Udeid Air Base, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Doha, Qatar.Alex Brandon/The Associated Press
The two planes currently serving as Air Force One, modified Boeing 747s, have been in service since 1990. During Mr. Trump’s first term, the federal government signed a US$3.9-billion contract with Boeing to deliver two replacement aircraft by 2024.
The new planes have been plagued by delays and are now not expected to be ready until at least 2027. Because it’s a fixed-price contract, Boeing has had to pay for the cost overruns.
Mr. Trump has taken a personal interest in the project. During his previous White House stint, he once used an Oval Office meeting with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau to show off a model of the new Air Force One painted to his specifications.
After returning to power this year, Mr. Trump told reporters he was “not happy with Boeing” and might explore other options. “We may go and buy a plane or get a plane or something.”
The Qatari offer
Under the plan, Qatar’s royal family would give a 2012, US$400-million Boeing 747-8 to the U.S. Department of Defence for use as Air Force One for the rest of Mr. Trump’s term, by which time the new Boeing planes should be ready.
At that point, Mr. Trump’s presidential library would take ownership of the Qatari jet. Even though the President has said he would not use the plane after he leaves office, such an arrangement would eventually make the aircraft a gift to an organization associated with Mr. Trump rather than to the U.S. government.
The Qatari plane is a modified 747 but newer and with more lavish interiors than the current Air Force One planes.
It appears the Qatari government has been trying to offload it for several years; internet sleuths unearthed an online ad seeking to sell the jet in 2020.
What could possibly go wrong?
For one, Qatar is an absolute monarchy with a notoriously bad human-rights record, mostly related to the mistreatment of its large population of migrant workers. For another, it has extensive ties to U.S. businesses, including some owned by Mr. Trump. Accepting such a valuable gift could create a conflict of interest the next time Doha lobbies the White House.
What’s more, the plane may violate the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause. That provision bans the president and other officials from accepting presents from foreign governments without congressional approval.
The 1966 Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act grants blanket permission for presidents to personally receive presents worth as much as US$480. Anything worth more than that becomes the property of the U.S. government and cannot be kept by the president after leaving office.
The episode is also reviving long-standing accusations that Mr. Trump has profited off the presidency and opened himself up to foreign influence.
During his first term, for instance, he owned a luxury hotel near the White House that officials from foreign countries, including Qatar, paid to stay at. Currently, Mr. Trump is promoting a cryptocurrency and offering dinners with himself and private tours of the White House for top buyers.
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What Trump and his critics have said
The President frames anyone who would turn down the Qatari plane as a sucker. “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our country,” he wrote on Truth Social this week.
In an interview with Fox host Sean Hannity on Air Force One, Mr. Trump said the current jets are simply not as nice as the one Qatar is offering. “We’re the United States of America. I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.”
The opposition to the idea is broad and bipartisan, in an increasingly rare instance of some of Mr. Trump’s supporters breaking with him.
Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito said the White House has to “look at the constitutionality” of the idea. She also raised security concerns: “I’d be checking for bugs.”
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro pointed out that, during Joe Biden’s presidency, Republicans assailed the foreign business dealings of his son, Hunter. “President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp,” he said on his podcast.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, put it more bluntly. On X, he described the deal as “farcically corrupt” and an example of “over-the-top kleptocracy.”
Donald Trump's Gulf tour took him to the UAE on Thursday, with a flurry of new deals signed during the visit, including an agreement on AI and more orders for Boeing. Julian Satterthwaite reports.
Reuters
Why this might be completely impractical anyway
Ethics and optics aside, there may ultimately be a pragmatic reason the gift never goes ahead.
Any plane serving as Air Force One must be extensively customized. Among other things, that includes anti-missile systems, protection against nuclear explosions and communications equipment for directing the military.
Such requirements are at least part of the reason Boeing is so behind on its order: Not only is the supply chain for specialized parts complicated, but the workers installing them need security clearances.
It is possible that, given the time and money involved in stripping down and modifying the Qatari plane – including removing the opulent interiors that struck the President’s fancy – the U.S. would end up shelling out a lot of money for a jet that wouldn’t be ready much earlier than the planes Boeing is working on.