Trump defends $400M jet gift on Mideast tour

What happened

President Trump last week embarked on a pomp-filled tour of the Middle East, where he signed investment deals with Saudi Arabia, pledged to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, made overtures to Iran, and sparked domestic uproar with his plan to accept Qatar's gift of a $400 million jet. Trump scoffed at ethical concerns about receiving a lavishly appointed Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family, saying the "palace in the sky" would be converted into an Air Force One and would go to his presidential library after he left office. Only a "stupid" person wouldn't want "a free, very expensive airplane," said Trump. In a memo, Attorney General Pam Bondi—a former lobbyist for Qatar—declared the gift would not violate anti-bribery laws or the Constitution's ban on foreign gifts because it would go initially to the Defense Department. But even many Republicans balked at the plan. Qatar's rulers "support Hamas," said Florida Sen. Rick Scott. "I don't know how you make [the plane] safe."

As Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia, his first stop, he got a ceremonial escort from six Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s and was met by an honor guard with golden swords. Sitting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman under sparkling chandeliers in the royal palace, Trump praised the kingdom's de facto ruler as an "incredible man" and "my friend." In Riyadh, Trump announced he would lift decades-old sanctions on Syria to give the war-ravaged country "a chance at peace." The next day he met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaida militant who led the recent overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad, praising him as a "tough guy." Trump noted that he decided to lift sanctions after a request from bin Salman. "Oh, what I do for the crown prince," he said.

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Trump offered "a new path" to Iran, promising to ease sanctions if it abandoned its nuclear program and support of proxy militias. Should Tehran reject this "olive branch," he said, "we will have no choice but to inflict massive, maximum pressure." During the trip, bin Salman committed to $600 billion in U.S. investments, including $142 billion in arms purchases. Qatar, Trump's second stop, pledged deals worth more than $243 billion, including $96 billion in Boeing jets for Qatar Airways.

What the editorials said

Trump's belief he can blithely accept a $400 million plane from Qatar is jaw-dropping, said the San Antonio Express-News. It's "a blatant act of self-enrichment" and a clear violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause, which forbids gifts for U.S. officials from "any King, Prince, or foreign State." That it technically goes to the Defense Department means nothing: The chief beneficiary will be a "corrupt president who is easily swayed by flattery and presents."

"Making matters worse is that Qatar is no friend," said National Review. Its "terrorist-loving government" has long supported Yemen's Houthi militia and funneled billions to Hamas, helping the group build the infrastructure it needed for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. It then blamed Israel for the slaughter and refused to use its leverage to help free Hamas' hostages. "Absolutely nothing good" can come from a president "feeling he owes something" to such a regime.

What the columnists said

Trump visited a region awash in "tumult," from the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza to the missile exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed Houthis, said Alex Shephard in The New Republic. But actual diplomacy on this trip was an afterthought. Instead, his focus was business—with an uneasy blurring between America's interests and those of Trump Inc. Eric and Don Jr. "have been jaunting across the region" striking deals worth billions of dollars, including a high-end residential tower in Saudi Arabia and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Trump's "sidelining" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unnerving Israelis, said Gerry Shih in The Washington Post. His failure to visit Jerusalem comes amid other signs of "cracks" between the staunch allies. The U.S. has engaged in hostage talks with Hamas without Israel's knowledge, struck a truce with the Houthis that didn't protect Israel, and moved to start nuclear negotiations with Iran while vetoing an Israeli strike on its enemy. Many Israelis now fear they're being cast off by a president they considered to be "the most pro-Israel in history."

It's telling that for the first planned trip of his second term, Trump chose "not a democracy but a despotism," said William Kristol in The Bulwark. And his gushing praise of bin Salman—a global pariah after he ordered the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi—made clear he "admires the Saudi achievements in autocracy, plutocracy, and kleptocracy." Indeed, in remarks at a business summit in Riyadh, he condemned the "so-called nation builders, neocons, or liberal nonprofits" who have promoted democracy and liberalism in the region.

Since Trump returned to office, "the specter of authoritarianism" has sparked wide alarm, said Edward Luce in Financial Times. But "autocracy's twin is kleptocracy," and on that front Trump "seems much further advanced." The Trump family's crypto ventures are raking in millions. His sons are building a Trump-branded golf resort in Qatar, which is also a major investor in his son-in-law Jared Kushner's investment fund. It'd be fair to ask the America First president how any of this serves U.S. interests. "The suspicion arises that the president's real agenda is Trump First," and "the rest is sleight of hand."

What next?

Trump's "free" plane would be no "gift for the American taxpayer," said Joe Gould and Connor O'Brien in Politico. The two presidential planes currently in use are decades old and "increasingly hard to maintain," and replacements are years behind schedule. But before it could be used as Air Force One, the Qatari jet "would need to be torn down and rebuilt from the inside out" to meet security and communications needs and swept for "embedded foreign tech." Experts say that process could cost the government tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. The furor over the plane could raise the heat on a simmering problem for Trump, said Aaron Blake in The Washington Post. Polls show many Americans have concerns about his business dealings, and lately we've seen "explosive reporting about Trump getting rich off cryptocurrency." While most Americans don't understand crypto, anyone can grasp the taking of an "extraordinary gift" from an Arab monarchy—a gift that would land just as he asks Americans to embrace austerity in his on-again, off-again trade war. Even for this norm-shattering president, "that would be pretty brazen."