US President Donald Trump's Future Air Force One Deal With Qatar Faces Legal Roadblocks

Mumbai: Trump’s future Air Force One has run into rough weather even before it can take off. The Washington Post reports that “Trump’s Air Force One deal with Qatar is not final, despite US claims”.

The transfer of luxury Boeing 747- 8 jetliner that President Donald Trump portrayed as a gift has run into legal hiccups. As per The Washington Post report Qatar now wants a Memorandum of Understanding specifying that the aircraft’s transfer, was initiated by the Trump administration and that Qatar is not responsible for any future transfers of this plane’s ownership. Qatar doesn’t want any legal troubles in the future. This caveat throws a huge shadow over claims that the plane was a major ‘gift’ from his recent trip to West Asia.-“[I] got a beautiful big magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force,” Trump had told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Very proud of that.” Trump had claimed that it was Qatar that reached out and offered him, this luxurious plane, valued at roughly $180 million, free of cost. But, in reality, it was the Trump government that, first reached out to Qatar about acquiring the plane through a ‘sale’, officials said. Discussions about the sale eventually transformed into Qatar agreeing to provide the plane as a `gift', a development reported previously by the New York Times.

The Plane, Boeing 747-8, is called ‘the flying palace’ because of its luxurious interiors, beautifully welldesigned bathrooms, spacious private bedrooms and a grand staircase. It was used by the Qatari Royal Family and was subsequently put in the service of the Turkish government. Anna Kelly, White House spokeswoman, stated that the plane will be given to the U.S. for free in a statement to The Washington Post. Qatar has faced criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for this deal.

“It’s an illegal bribe that the President is champing at the bit to accept. That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy,” said Sen. Murphy (D-Connecticut). House Democrats, led by Rep. G.W. Meeks (DNew York), have introduced their own legislation that would block federal funds from being used for such transfers.

Democrats were furious about future plans for the jet to be transferred to Trump’s presidential library. However, Trump said his critics were absolutely wrong as the plane is too big for personal use. “They tried to say, ‘Oh, its Trump’s airplane,’” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Oh, yeah, sure. It’s too big. It’s frankly, it’s too big. Much too big.”

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