President Donald Trump seems obsessed with the offer of Qatar of an aircraft of $ 400 million and the subsequent flame return.
Since it was reported on Sunday for the first time that the royal family Qatari has planned to offer the Trump administration a Boeing 747-8 Jumbo Jew, the Democrats and Loyalists Maga criticized the proposed gift as a ethically, legally questionable suspect and a potential security risk.
But Trump continues to defend the gift offered in many articles on Truth Social and in a Tuesday evening conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News.
“There are those who say that we should not accept gifts in the Ministry of Defense, and I would say that only a stupid person would say that. Why won’t we do that?” Trump told Hannity in the Air Force One Tuesday during his trip to the Middle East, where he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
If the agreement materializes, Trump said that the plane would be temporarily used as Air Force One during his remaining time before being given to his presidential library. Although the exact value of the specific jet in question – which is 13 years old, reported ABC News – is unclear, a new JUMBO 747-8 jumbo recovers $ 400 million.
“The Boeing 747 is given to the United States Air Force / Department of Defense, not mine! It is a gift from a nation, Qatar, that we successfully defended for many years,” Trump on Tuesday wrote on Tuesday. He continued: “Why should our soldiers, and therefore our taxpayers, should be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars when they can get it for free in a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This great economy will be spent, instead of making America again! Only a fool would not accept this gift on behalf of our country.”
Trump also re-ravified several messages from supporters commenting late Tuesday (or very early Wednesday morning for Trump, with an article at 4:05 a.m. local time), one in which a truth user compared the plane to the 1886 donation of the Statue of Liberty of France and the 1880 gift from the resolved office of Queen Victoria.
There are some differences between these gifts and the Qatari plan.
On the one hand, the resolved office remained in the White House to be used by future presidents, notably Trump, and the statue of Liberty is located on public land and managed by the National Park Service.
Under the federal law, members of the executive power must disclose gifts from foreign governments which are worth more than $ 480.
The 1966 law on foreign gifts and decorations governed the reception of gifts granted by federal officials, and its adoption by the congress aimed to avoid conflicts of interest.
Presidents are authorized to keep gifts to be presented in their future presidential library. However, if a president hopes to keep a gift for personal use, he must reimburse the cost of the fair market for the article.
The Air Force One plane used by Ronald Reagan and several other presidents is currently on display at the Reagan Library and Museum in California, but this plane was put out of service and has never been used again. It is not clear if the Qatar plane would be put out of service before being offered to the Trump’s presidential library, but Trump said that he would not use it after his mandate.
The proposal has rekindled the long -standing debate on the emoluments and the fight that many legislators have taken over the years to ensure that the presidents do not take advantage of their perch in the oval office.
In the American Constitution, emoluments are devoted to the law which aim to protect the presidency from external influences – which includes foreign governments.
Article I stipulates that governments cannot accept gifts of any “king, prince or foreign state” in the absence of approval from the congress. And in article II, the remuneration of a president cannot be increased or lowered during their stay in the White House.
Qatar’s media attaché in the United States, Ali Al-Ansari, told Bi in a statement that the transfer of the plane was “currently under study”. The case “remains under examination by the respective legal services, and no decision has been made,” said Al-Ansari.
“Any gift offered by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. The administration of President Trump is attached to full transparency,” said the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement to Bi.
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