The American Eagle Just Got a Layover in Doha

The Pentagon has formally accepted a $400 million jet from Qatar to replace Air Force One. 

When asked about the gift, President Trump deemed it a “great thing” going on to say that only a “stupid person” would turn down such a gift.

However, there have been many critics of such a large gift, especially regarding one as integral to the president’s affairs as Air Force One. 

Particularly, some of Trump’s staunchest supporters have condemned the gift.

Ben Shapiro, the right-wing political commentator, highlighted that “If we switched the [person accepting the gift] to [Biden], we’d all be freaking out on the right”

Other commentators, such as Batya Ungar-Sargon, have gone further by bluntly labelling the transaction “a bribe”.

In response, Trump justified the deal with the continued supply-chain delays meaning that Boeing’s scheduled delivery of the next Air Force One is now not expected until 2029. 

“Boeing’s a little bit late, unfortunately” Trump said, passing on the blame to the US aerospace company.

Although, it is not a done deal just yet.

Article I of the constitution requires that U.S. government officials accepting titles or gifts from foreign monarchs can only do so with the approval of Congress.

There has already been congressional resistance to the proposal with an amendment being proposed this week that would ban any helping to renovate the airplane for military use.

This is particularly problematic for Air Force One which would require a barrage of military-grade modifications allowing it “essentially be a flying White House situation room” according to DefenseNews.

Furthermore, Politico highlights that Congress members are considering a plethora of other methods to prevent the deal from reaching completion.

These include pushing to speed up the Boeing delivery (in order to make the deal pointless) and blocking it on the basis that it is a bribe. 

However, a lot of Congress’ capabilities to stunt or fully block the transaction require Republican Congress members to be on board. 

Despite Republican media criticism of Trump surrounding the jet, we cannot be sure whether this would be enough to turn their votes in The House.