Trump keeps raging over criticism of Qatar luxury plane 'gift'

President Trump called the legally questionable gift 'a very public and transparent transaction.'

May 12, 2025 - 16:13

Trump keeps raging over criticism of Qatar luxury plane 'gift'

On May 11, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter leaked the news that the Trump administration was planning to accept a Boeing 747-8 (BA) jet from Qatar's royal family.

The plan has been to equip the plane for use as Air Force One and, at the end of Trump's second term as president, transfer it to his presidential library for continued use as a private citizen — a move that immediately raised both ethical and legal questions. Article 9 of the Constitution explicitly states that a president cannot accept gifts or titles "of any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or foreign State" without the approval of Congress.

"This isn't a good idea even if the plane was being donated to the U.S. government," Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on social media platform on Sunday night. "But Trump GET TO KEEP THE PLANE??? It's simply a cash payment to Trump in exchange for favors. Just wildly illegal."

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Trump confirms Boeing 747-8 jet: 'A gift, free of charge'

Other criticism focused on the potential for spyware to be installed in a plane gifted by a foreign state. As outrage around the Boeing jet gift continued to grow, President Trump confirmed plans to receive it on his social media platform Truth Social.

"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 at 8:42 p.m. on May 11. "Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!"

The move comes after Boeing (BA) announced that it would not be able to deliver a new 747-8 for use as Air Force One until 2027 amid both supply chain delays and multiple safety investigations that the aircraft manufacturer has faced over the last year.

President Trump has publicly feuded with Boeing over the delivery date that has been repeatedly pushed back from 2022 and will likely be extended again until the end of his presidential term.

*A Boeing 747 aircraft that was toured by President Donald Trump sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport.*
Image source: Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

'We may buy a plane or get a plane or something'

"No, I'm not happy with Boeing," he told BBC in February 2025. "It takes them a long time to do, you know, Air Force One, we gave that contract out a long time ago. We may buy a plane or get a plane or something."

Trump had previously toured the Boeing 747-8 jet owned by the Qatari royal family while it was at Palm Beach International Airport and touted it as a "palace in the sky."

More on travel:

While the gift was initially expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar on his four-day state trip to the Middle East at the end of the week, the White House later said that it would not be confirmed on this visit.

On May 12, White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that "any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws."