{"id":8074,"date":"2025-05-21T21:04:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=8074"},"modified":"2025-05-21T21:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:04:20","slug":"us-accepts-qatars-boeing-747-for-air-force-one-despite-ethics-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=8074","title":{"rendered":"US accepts Qatar\u2019s Boeing 747 for Air Force One despite ethics concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar\u2019s offer of the jet \u2013 which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars \u2013 has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,\u201d Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,\u201d Parnell said, referring questions to the US Air Force.<\/p>\n<p>Read more:\u00a0&#8216;Trump to accept lavish jet from Qataris as Air Force One&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts \u201cfrom any King, Prince or foreign State,\u201d in a section known as the Emoluments Clause.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump has denied there are any ethical issues involved with acepting the plane, saying it would be \u201cstupid\u201d for the US government not to take the aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great gesture,\u201d the 78-year-old billionaire told reporters at the White House last week when asked if the oil-rich Gulf state would expect anything in exchange.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person (and) say \u2018no we don\u2019t want a free, very expensive airplane.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The leader of the Democratic minority in the US Senate introduced legislation earlier this week that would block Trump from using the aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>Chuck Schumer\u2019s Presidential Airlift Security Act would prohibit the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds to retrofit any plane previously owned by a foreign government for use as the presidential plane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump has shown time and again he will sell out the American people and the presidency if it means filling his own pockets,\u201d Schumer said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Read more:\u00a0Boeing&#8217;s stock boosts after landing record $96 billion jet-deal with Qatar<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there\u2019s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although several Republicans have voiced concerns about the proposed gift, Senate Majority Leader John Thune \u2013 a Trump loyalist \u2013 is not obliged to bring the bill to the floor of Congress\u2019s upper chamber.<\/p>\n<p>But Schumer plans to force a vote by offering it as an amendment to spending bills that Republicans will have to pass later in the year.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Qatar\u2019s offer of the jet \u2013 which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars \u2013 has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}