Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani rejected the notion Tuesday that his country is attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump by gifting a $400 million luxury jet to the U.S. to replace Air Force One while Trump is in office.
“I don’t know why people consider it as bribery or Qatar trying to buy influence with this administration,” al-Thani said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday, as first reported by Bloomberg, which is hosting the event. “We need to overcome this stereotype.”
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The Boeing 747-8, which was previously used by the Qatari royal family, is being donated to the Pentagon to serve as a stand-in for the aging Air Force One fleet. Announced plans are for it to be decommissioned for Trump’s future presidential library after he leaves office.
‘Many nations have gifted things to the US’: Qatar prime minister
Qatar’s prime minister described the gift on Tuesday as one “done in full transparency and very legally.”
“Many nations have gifted things to the U.S.,” he added.
Trump similarly has stressed that the plane was donated to the Department of Defense and not to him personally.
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“I made a good deal,” he said. But the arrangement has raised ethical and security questions from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Most voters surveyed in a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll released Monday also have concerns about the jet — 62 percent said it “raises ethical concerns about corruption,” while only 35 percent said the gift is “a win for the U.S.”
