{"id":1097,"date":"2025-05-13T19:39:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2025-05-13T19:39:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:39:47","slug":"maga-world-is-not-happy-about-trumps-gift-from-qatar-mother-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1097","title":{"rendered":"MAGA World Is Not Happy About Trump\u2019s Gift From Qatar \u2013 Mother Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"


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President Donald Trump boarding Air Force One on Monday.<\/span>Alex Brandon\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Get your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily<\/em>.<\/a><\/div>\n

Some of President<\/span> Donald Trump\u2019s most ardent supporters are not thrilled about his plan to accept a luxury jet as a gift from Qatari royals<\/a> to use as Air Force One.<\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told<\/a> CNN, \u201cI don\u2019t think another country\u00a0should be providing America [a plane]. We\u00a0don\u2019t need that\u2026.I think\u00a0America can afford their own\u00a0plane and build their own Air Force One.\u201d Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told<\/a> reporters, \u201cIt would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America.\u201d And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told<\/a> CNBC Tuesday morning that he is \u201cnot a fan of Qatar,\u201d adding, \u201cThe plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.\u201d (Indeed, a Defense Department official told<\/a> the New York Times<\/em> it would take \u201cyears, not months\u201d to make the necessary security upgrades for the plane.)<\/p>\n

Democrats and legal experts have alleged the plan, first reported<\/a> by ABC News on Sunday, violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which\u00a0prohibits<\/a>\u00a0any person holding elected office from accepting gifts\u00a0\u201cfrom any King, Prince, or foreign State.\u201d Even Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) acknowledged that the gift appears to run afoul of the Emoluments Clause, telling<\/a> Fox News host Jesse Waters, \u201cThere is a provision in the Constitution that says you can\u2019t do this.\u201d Paul also characterized accepting the plane as \u201ca mistake,\u201d adding, \u201cI think it\u2019s not worth the appearance of impropriety.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Paul: The constitution in article two talks about the president cannot take gifts from foreign leaders. There is a provision in the constitution that says you cannot do this\u2026 I think it\u2019s not worth the appearance of impropriety pic.twitter.com\/tPPcEVd8E8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Acyn (@Acyn) May 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told<\/a> CNN that Trump and the White House \u201cneed to look at the Constitutionality\u201d of accepting the plane. And Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said<\/a> the news \u201craises questions\u201d about whether the administration would be in compliance with the \u201cgift law.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to ABC\u2019s reporting, Attorney General Pam Bondi\u00a0and top White House lawyer David Warrington believe that transferring the plane to the Trump library foundation before the end of his term will make the arrangement legally sound. When asked about the gift, valued at approximately $400 million, Trump called<\/a> it a \u201cvery nice gesture,\u201d adding, \u201cit helps us out,\u201d given that upgrades to the current Air Force One have repeatedly been delayed. \u201cI would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

But some of his most ardent supporter think he should.<\/p>\n

Laura Loomer, a close friend of Trump\u2019s who appeared to influence<\/a> his decision to fire several members of his National Security Council and recently claimed<\/a> credit for Mike Waltz\u2019s ousting as national security advisor, lambasted the decision to accept the plane in multiple posts on X. \u201cThis is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump,\u201d Loomer wrote<\/a> on Sunday, noting that Qatar has helped fund<\/a> Hamas. \u201cWe cannot accept a $400 million \u2018gift\u2019 from jihadists in suits,\u201d Loomer added. (It\u2019s worth noting that Loomer has a history of making Islamophobic comments<\/a>.) In other posts, Loomer claimed, without evidence, that Qatar was funding the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa<\/a> and that Qatar was behind the attempted assassinations<\/a> of Trump.<\/p>\n

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also pointed to Qatar\u2019s role in funding Hamas as his rationale for opposing the gift, adding<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t know how you make [the plane] safe.\u201d Right wing commentator Ben Shapiro called<\/a> the decision to accept the gift \u201cskeezy,\u201d alleging it was \u201cnot America first\u201d given Qatar\u2019s support for Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the news outlet Al Jazeera, which is partly funded<\/a> by the Qatari government. <\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if this chorus of right-wing voices will sway Trump\u2019s decision to accept the plane. But if he does, at least Loomer and her cronies will likely be staying off the \u201cpalace in the sky<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n