WASHINGTON: Qatar’s offer to donate a luxury jet to the United States was not a personal gift to President Donald Trump but a “government-to-government transaction,“ the Gulf nation’s prime minister said Wednesday.
Trump, whose Middle East trip included a stop Wednesday in Qatar, has faced an uproar back at home since press reports revealed he was considering using the jet as Air Force One — and would potentially continue to use it after leaving office.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani downplayed those concerns, telling CNN in an interview he did not know why it had become such big news.
“It is a government-to-government transaction. It has nothing to do with personnel, whether it’s on the US side or on the Qatari side, it’s the Ministry of Defense and Department of Defense,“ he said, echoing the White House’s reaction to the backlash.
He also dismissed allegations that Qatar was using the gift as a way of influencing Trump, saying it rather trying to help solve its US ally’s problems.
“Qatar has been always a reliable partner for the US, has been always stepping up to help and support the US, because we believe that this friendship needs to be mutually beneficial for both countries, cannot be a one-way relationship,“ Sheikh Mohammed said.
He added that in any case, the offer was “still under legal review.”
Trump has repeatedly complained of delays and cost overruns in aerospace giant Boeing’s contract to provide two new Air Force One jets to replace the current aging models.
Under questioning from reporters on Monday, Trump angrily defended the arrangement with Qatar, saying he would be “stupid” not to accept such a gift.
But the plan has raised major ethical questions, as the US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State.”
It has also raised deep security concerns about using a plane donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive Air Force One. The jet is designed to serve as a mobile command center for the president in case of an attack on America.
