Controversy over 'flying palace' gifted by Qatar to US President

Washington [US], May 14: US President Donald Trump's intention to accept a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar as his personal plane is causing mixed reactions in US politics.
US President Donald Trump has defended his plan to accept a Boeing 747-8 aircraft donated by the Qatari government as his official plane, after Democrats and even some of his supporters objected to the move.
Speaking at the White House on May 12, US President Trump called the gift a "very nice gesture" from Qatar. "I would never turn down an offer like that. I think it would be a stupid person to say: no, we don't want a free and very expensive plane," ABC News quoted him as saying. In addition, Mr. Trump added that it was a gift for the US Department of Defense, and affirmed that he had no intention of using it after leaving office.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said accepting the plane would be an unprecedented violation of US norms. In addition, The Hill quoted Senator Jack Reed as saying that using the plane "would pose a huge counterintelligence risk, by giving foreign countries access to sensitive systems and communications." "This reckless disregard for national security and diplomatic norms signals a dangerous willingness to trade American interests for personal gain," he criticized.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the Daily Wire and a pro-Trump political commentator, said that if this happened to former President Joe Biden, conservatives, especially Trump supporters, would react very strongly. Laura Loomer, a far-right figure who often appeared with Trump during last year's election campaign , wrote a series of posts on the social network X to protest, pointing out Qatar's relationship with Hamas. "If this is true, it is a stain on the administration. As someone who would take a bullet for Trump, I am very disappointed," Loomer wrote. Fox News host Mark Levin, a Trump supporter and influential in the MAGA (Make America Great Again) media, shared and agreed with Loomer's post.
Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the legal details of receiving the aircraft were being finalized and "any donations to the government are always made in accordance with the law."
Plan stagnation
According to The Washington Post , the $400 million Qatar Boeing 747-8 was brought to San Antonio International Airport (Texas, USA) five weeks ago. Previously, Mr. Trump visited the plane, which is so lavishly decorated that it is called a "flying palace", when it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport (Florida, USA) in February.
During his first term (2017-2021), Mr. Trump negotiated with Boeing to buy two 747-8s for the Air Force One fleet, with delivery scheduled for 2024. However, the plan has been delayed several times. In February, a senior US official said the Air Force One program could be delayed until 2029 or later, partly due to supply chain issues. However, a US Air Force official said on May 8 that Boeing had proposed delaying delivery until 2027. Boeing has lost more than $2 billion on the $3.9 billion Air Force One program.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration about the delay in delivering the pair of planes, which are intended to replace the Air Force One pair that have been in use since the administration of late President George H. W. Bush in the 1990s. "You know, we have an Air Force One that is 40 years old... If you look at some of the Arab countries and their planes are parked next to the American ones, it looks like it's from another planet," he compared.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper