US accepts $400mn Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One

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Pentagon officially accepted a $ 400 million talented jumbo plane by Qatar, which will be used as the American President’s plane, despite concerns about the two parties about ethics and security.
Donald Trump wants to use the plane as Air Force One while Boeing completes two new planes that have been delayed long ago, but the gift will be modified before it can fly.
“Defense Secretary Boeing 747 from Qatar before all federal rules and regulations,” the chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Barnell said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Defense will ensure the appropriate security measures and the requirements of the functional education of the plane used to transport the President of the United States.”
“He is preparing to grant a contract to amend the Boeing 747 for the executive jar. Details of the contract are classified.”
The Air Force, which is responsible for re -modifying the plane, did not answer questions about the time it will be completed.
The person who looked at the talks said that the deal was not completed, adding that “the details are under work” even as the United States is officially accepting the plane.
Democrats strongly criticized the acceptance of the plane.
Chuck Schumer, the largest Democrat in the US Senate, described the plane on Wednesday’s room as “the largest foreign gift for an American president in modern history,” saying it is “bright” and “screaming the risks of national security. It is a bribe in broad daylight.”
Then he tried and failed to issue legislation that would prohibit the use of taxpayer boxes to buy or modify foreign aircraft for presidential use.
senator Tami Dakrith, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Tuesday that there are “very real operational security risks” from accepting such a gift from a foreign government, and that it is concerned about “pressure that may be under the corners on operational security”.
Senator Mazi Herono, who is also sitting in the committee, said that Trump was “using the Ministry of Defense to accept it, so that you can call it washing it, which is an unacceptable gift to coordinate constitutional restrictions.”
Some Republicans have expressed similar concerns. Senator Susan Collins told NBC News last week.
Trump defended Boeing 747 on Wednesday, saying “It is a great thing” during a bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramavusa at the Oval Office. He also said that the plane was given “not mine, [but] To the American Air Force so that they can help us, because we need one air force. ”
Last week, Trump said it would be “stupid” to say, “No, we don’t want a very free and expensive plane.”
The US President in Boeing also took revenge for his “slightly late” in the introduction of Air Force One, which is behind the specified date. The airline and defense has always been a target to seduce Trump.
During the testimony before the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, the new Air Force Minister, Tari Mick, said that the plane requires “major adjustments” to become the new air force, but the air force was in a good position to make the necessary changes.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman Thani defended his government’s move on Tuesday, insisting that he was not bribery and said that the arrangement is “a natural thing that occurs between the allies.” “I don’t know why people think that this is a bribe or … that Qatar wants to buy an effect with this administration.”
Additional reports by Andrew England in London
2025-05-21 21:36:00