Donald Trump is defending accepting a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar, comparing it to the State of Liberty.Â
On Tuesday, Trump reshared a post on his Truth Social app which included an edited picture showing the Statue of Liberty with a sign around its neck that said, “Gift from a foreign nation.”
Trump accepting a luxury jet from Qatar and The Statue of Liberty are two very different things.
The statue was a gift to the U.S. from France, one Congress authorized President Grover Cleveland to accept. Meanwhile, Congress hasn’t authorized Trump to accept the $400 million luxury jet from Qatar which he will reportedly use as Air Force One until the end of his presidency, at which point it will be donated to the Trump presidential library foundation, ABC News reported.
Trump has received bipartisan criticism for the gift, including from some of his most loyal sycophants. Critics noted that the gift violates the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which prohibits presidents from receiving gifts from foreign countries.
Others see the jet as the Qataris trying to buy influence.
Trump has repeatedly defended accepting the plane. He told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview Tuesday that Air Force One was not as nice as the planes belonging to some Arab leaders.
“When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, and you see UAE, and you see Qatar, and you see all these, and they have these brand-new 747s mostly. And you see ours next to it. This is like a totally different plane. It’s much smaller. It’s much less impressive, as impressive as it is,” he told Hannity.
“We’re the United States of America. I believe that we should have the most impressive plane,” he continued, adding, “Some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is why wouldn’t I accept a gift?”
