The $400,000,000 Qatari Boeing 747-8 Jumbo Jet Is a Trojan Horse

May 13, 2025 12:52 PM EDT, Tue

This Qatari is a Trojan Horse. The Boeing 747-8 would have to be stripped down to the airframe to make sure that there are no listening devices or tracking devices embedded in Trump’s gift. Plus the airframe and electronics have to be hardened to be able to withstand an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a nuclear blast.

How long would that take?
How much would it cost?

Trump says he’ll accept a $400m gift from Qatar — which funded Hamas

The president attacked universities in the name of “protecting” Jews. But he’s happy to receive a donation from Qatar’s royal family — which backed Hamas.

May 12, 2025, 7:41 PM EDT

By Anthony L. Fisher, Senior Editor, MSNBC Daily

“I could be a stupid person and say no, we don’t want a free plane,” said the president of the United States about the Boeing 747-8 which the royal family that rules Qatar has offered as a gift.

There are obviously ethical, legal and constitutional issues — to say nothing of security concerns — with President Donald Trump’s willingness to accept a $400 million donation from a Middle East petrostate with tens of billions of dollars of business interests in the United States. (It’s also more than a bit hypocritical, given that Trump leads the party still obsessed with Hunter Biden’s comparatively low-stakes shady overseas business dealings.) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), put it concisely in a post on X: “Not only is this farcically corrupt, it is blatantly unconstitutional. Congress must not allow this over-the-top kleptocracy to proceed.”

Perhaps less noticed is that Trump is poised to accept an exorbitant personal gift of a jumbo jet (meant to be used as Air Force One) from a government that has provided substantial funding for the antisemitic, fascistic terror group Hamas about 100 days after he signed his “Executive Order to Combat Anti-Semitism.” (For years, Qatar funded Hamas with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government.)

Trump is poised to accept an exorbitant personal gift from a government that has provided substantial funding for the antisemitic, fascistic terror group Hamas.

At the same time, Trump’s administration continues to employ Kingsley Wilson as deputy press secretary for the Department of Defense, despite a recent social media record of posts widely seen as antisemitic. And since Trump returned to the White House, two powerful members of his inner circle have made ““stiff-armed salutes”” in front of big crowds and many cameras. Yet, the administration has used the thinnest of pretexts to characterize activists as antisemitic, before then claiming they’re providing material support to Hamas.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in a White House fact sheet that accompanied his January antisemitism executive order. He also promised to “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

Indeed, Trump’s supposed war on antisemitism is his rationale for his war on universities and campus activism. Meanwhile, pro-Israel and Trump-friendly media outlets have published many articles and op-eds decrying what they say is the nefarious influence of Qatari billions on U.S. universities and student activist groups. (We’ll have to check back in later to see if they’re equally appalled by Qatar’s lavish funding of an American president’s air travel.)

The Trump administration has tried to justify its deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, the green-card holder and spouse of a U.S. citizen who served as a mediator and spokesperson for a pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel student activist group encamped last year on the campus of Columbia University, on the basis of fighting antisemitism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later admitted Khalil had broken no laws, and the government has yet to provide any evidence that Khalil spread Hamas propaganda or participated in any harassment of last month a federal judge ruled he can challenge the government’s deportation attempt in court.)

NBC News reviewed over 100 pages of documents the Trump administration filed as evidence to back up its deportation efforts for Khalil, and found that “in some instances, the government appears to be relying on unverified tabloid articles about Khalil. In others, the government’s claims about him are clearly erroneous because timelines don’t match.”

Let’s call Trump’s so-called war on antisemitism what it is: Trump’s cudgel to attack his perceived enemies.

In plain English, Trump and his administration’s claims that they’re battling antisemitism are absurd. In fact, they are falsely likening protected speech with which they object (such as co-signing an op-ed critical of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza) to a national security crisis requiring the most severe methods of enforcement, including denials of due process. The administration is also cloaking its brazen attempt to shake down universities and bring them to heel politically by withholding federal funds in the name of “protecting” Jews.

As Trump put in the antisemitism EO’s fact sheet, “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

But in accepting a $400 million personal gift from Qatar, a country that funded the group that gleefully butchered Jews on Oct. 7, 2023, Trump has made an absolute mockery of his “war on antisemitism.” Let’s call Trump’s so-called war on antisemitism what it is: Trump’s cudgel to attack his perceived enemies.

Anthony L. Fisher Anthony L. Fisher is a senior editor and writer for MSNBC Daily. He was previously the senior opinion editor for The Daily Beast and a politics columnist for Business Insider.

Trump scrambles to defend luxury jet from Qatar he’ll use as Air Force One

The president tried to defend an apparent plan in which he’d get to use a luxury jet from the government of Qatar. It didn’t go well.

May 12, 2025, 8:00 AM EDT

By Steve Benen

In Donald Trump’s first term, the president cultivated an unexpectedly amusing list of incidents related to airplanes. I actually maintained a list, documenting a curious array of stories in which the Republican suggested that F-35s are literally invisible, whined about the complexity of piloting, referenced F-52s that didn’t exist outside of video games, complained to members of Congress that the emir of Kuwait’s plane was bigger than his, and (among other things) got caught lying about Japan buying U.S. fighter jets and lying about Finland doing the same thing.

In his second term, the news at the intersection of Trump and planes is far less funny. NBC News reported:

The Trump administration is preparing to accept a superluxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar as a gift to be used by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One for presidential travel until shortly before Trump leaves office, according to four sources familiar with the planning. Two of the sources also confirm that ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation once the president ends his second term.

According to a report from ABC News, which was the first to break this story, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Justice Department lawyers determined that the acceptance of the plane was legally permissible if the Qatari government gifts it to the Defense Department and it is later turned over to the Trump Library Foundation.

This is notable for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the attorney general’s recent professional background: Bondi used to work as a registered lobbyist for foreign clients, including the government of Qatar — the same government that’s apparently preparing to reward Trump with a jet. (Soon after Senate Republicans made her the nation’s chief law enforcement official, Bondi also disbanded the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.)

It’s important to emphasize that the specific details of this arrangement are still coming into focus, and a spokesperson for Qatar’s government said that plans are not yet final. “The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s Media Attaché to the U.S., told Politico.

The intended beneficiary of Qatar’s apparent generosity, however, characterized the developments as a “fact” in an overnight missive published to his social media platform.

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump wrote. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA”

So let me see if I have this straight. The sitting American president is eager to accept the largest foreign gift in the history of the United States, which he intends to keep after he exits the White House, in defiance of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution — a black-letter legal provision that the Republican is on record dismissing as “phony.” Trump is prepared to welcome a foreign government’s largess, even as that same country strikes private deals with the president’s family-run business.

This entire arrangement was approved by the president’s attorney general — who worked as a well-paid lobbyist for that same country.

It’s against this backdrop that Trump wrote that his critics are “crooked.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who’s spent months focusing on White House corruption, described these developments as “wildly illegal.” In theory, congressional Republicans — many of whom seemed quite concerned about Qatari gifts to American universities in the recent past — could easily come to the same conclusions.

But it seems more likely that GOP lawmakers will again shrug with indifference.

Steve Benen Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

Pressed on corruption allegations against Trump, Karoline Leavitt offers pitiful defense

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against questions about the president’s grifts. It was a predictable failure.

May 12, 2025, 3:30 PM EDT By Steve Benen

Even before a foreign government eager to curry favor with the White House offered Donald Trump a superluxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet those concerned with the president and corruption allegations focused their attention on his outlandish meme coin gambit, which has proved to be quite lucrative, which appears to have created influence opportunities that foreigners have reportedly taken advantage of, and which has been fairly described as “the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done.”

It’s against this backdrop that Trump is preparing to leave for the Middle East — his first major foreign trip of his second term — and a reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt whether the president intends to meet with the Trump Organization’s business partners in the region. She apparently didn’t care for the line of inquiry.

“I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit,” Leavitt argued. “He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service, not just once but twice.”

Leavitt went on to claim, with a straight face, that Trump “has actually lost money for being president of the United States.”

In response to a question about the meme coin controversy, Trump’s chief spokesperson added that the president “is abiding by all conflict of interest laws” and “has been incredibly transparent with his own personal financial obligations.”

So, a few things.

First, Trump didn’t leave “a life of luxury.” He lives in a presidential mansion, filled with a small army of people who call him “sir” and cater to his every whim, and spends most of his weekends at a glorified country club in Florida, where he’s surrounded by sycophantic supporters who pay handsomely to hang out at a playground for the rich.

Second, Trump oversaw a real estate empire, but to call it “very successful” is, to put mildly, a real stretch.

Third, given the frequency with which Trump has tried to profit off the presidency, I’d love for Leavitt to elaborate on why she considers this line of inquiry to be “ridiculous.”

Fourth, if the White House believes Trump has been “incredibly transparent” with his finances, I have a follow-up question about the tax returns he has fought to keep secret.

Fifth, Leavitt might want people to believe that Trump “is abiding by all conflict of interest laws,” but as she really ought to know, presidents aren’t bound by the most serious conflict of interest laws.

Sixth, the idea that Trump “has actually lost money” while serving as president appears to be at odds with reality.

To be sure, I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic. The president’s many grifts are the stuff of legend, and if I were his press secretary, I’d probably struggle to come up with a persuasive defense, too.

But if Leavitt believes her talking points are going to end the corruption discussion, she’s likely to be disappointed.

Qatar’s jumbo jet gift is a deal for Trump, not the American people

Trump just put a “for sale” sign on U.S. foreign policy with Qatar’s jet gift.

May 13, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT / Updated May 13, 2025, 8:59 AM EDT

By Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor

In defending the gift of a super luxury jumbo jet he’s preparing to receive from the royal family of Qatar to use as Air Force One, President Donald Trump described it as a brilliant deal. Not for the American people, it isn’t.

The Boeing 747-8 jet is so lavish it is estimated to be worth around $400 million, and Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and an MSNBC columnist, has said that “a gift of this size from a foreign government is unprecedented in our nation’s history.” Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché to the U.S., said in a statement that that the deal is not final, as “the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments” of the two countries’ defense departments.

Contrary to Trump’s insinuation that this is actually good for Americans, by accepting the luxe jet he’d be taking the American public for a ride.

After Democrats objected to the planned transfer of the “flying palace” as unconstitutional and corrupt, Trump suggested Democrats ought to be in awe of his deal-making abilities. The real offense, he said, would be paying for the plane. “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”

Contrary to Trump’s insinuation that this is actually good for Americans, by accepting the luxe jet he’d be taking the American public for a ride. The Constitution’s emoluments clause prohibits public officeholders from receiving gifts from foreign states without consent from Congress. There’s a simple reason for that: Those countries have their own interests that are separate from, and often at odds with, the interests of the American public. By accepting the jet, Trump would be accepting a favor that could raise the potential for a reciprocal act that serves the interests of Qatar instead of the U.S.

“There is no question that any court that got to the merits would find a violation of the foreign emoluments clause,” Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a public interest watchdog, told me.

ABC News, citing sources familiar with the plan, reported that “Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump’s top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be ‘legally permissible’ for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump’s presidential library before the end of his term.” (It’s worth noting, as my colleague Steve Benen pointed out, that Bondi “used to work as a registered lobbyist for foreign clients, including the government of Qatar.”)

But Hauser argued that its eventual donation to the library — where it appears plausible that Trump and his family could continue to use the aircraft after his term ends — makes it no less of a violation of the emoluments clause. “You absolutely cannot use the existence of a nonprofit organization as a shield against political corruption,” Hauser said. “You can be corrupt on behalf of a charity.”

Think about it this way: Even if you re-gift a gift, it doesn’t change the fact that you received a gift. That applies even if Trump doesn’t use the jet after exiting the White House. Of course the premise for this gift is to replace the aging aircraft in the Air Force One fleet with an impressive new jet, as Boeing’s contract to replace them has been delayed and plagued by cost issues.

Avoiding conflict of interest matters beyond the corrupt back-scratching scenarios that they can set in motion. They also help maintain citizen trust in the government. A president who can only think of human interactions — including governance — as a series of private zero-sum transactions may not care about, or even understand, that.

It doesn’t matter whether Trump agreed to a specific quid pro quo behind closed doors. A free jumbo jet for Air Force One is a big favor — and a hugely tangible and personal one at that. There would be no way to extricate that from the rapport between the White House and Qatar going forward — it would be baked in as part of the bartering capital Qatar has with Trump in future instances when discussing everything from policy on Iran to Israel to natural gas deals. Moreover, other countries around the world will observe this and surmise that U.S. policy may be sold to the highest bidder.

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Zeeshan Aleem Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily. Previously, he worked at Vox, HuffPost and Politico, and he has also been published in, among other places, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The Intercept.

MAGA influencers criticize Trump’s $400 million jet from Qatar

Trump’s plan to accept a luxury jet as a gift from the Qatari royal family has led to broad criticism — including from the MAGA faithful.

May 13, 2025, 11:39 AM EDT / Updated May 13, 2025, 1:18 PM EDT

By Clarissa-Jan Lim

President Donald Trump’s plan to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family has led to an uproar among ethics experts, Democrats and even some Republicans. But some of the loudest criticism has come from his most fervent MAGA supporters.

On his podcast Monday, The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro pointed to Qatar’s relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, saying that accepting a gift from the royal family is “not America First.”

If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.

“Is this good for President Trump, is it good for his agenda? Is it good for draining the swamp and getting things done? The answer is no, it isn’t,” Shapiro said. “It isn’t. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.”

He added: “I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right.”

Far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who has had direct access to Trump, wrote a series of posts criticizing the gift.

“I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him,” she wrote on X on Sunday. “But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.”

Faux News host Mark Levin shared Loomer’s post, adding: “Ditto.”

Loomer, however, also tempered some of her criticism with effusive praise for the president. “It will be a stain, but he is still the best President of my lifetime,” she wrote on X on Monday.

First reported by ABC News, the super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet — which is estimated to be valued at $400 million — from Qatar is expected to be converted for use as Air Force One. The overhaul would take years and a potentially hefty price tag, along with a host of security concerns, according to aviation and intelligence experts who spoke with NBC News.

Meanwhile, Trump has defended his decision to accept the plane, calling it “a great gesture from Qatar” and suggesting it was too good an offer to pass up on.

“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” he said Monday when pressed about the deal. “I mean, I could be a stupid person [and] say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive

Clarissa-Jan Lim Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking/trending news blogger for MSNBC Digital. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.