President Donald Trump‘s decision to accept a $400 million jet from the Qatari royal family has cast a shadow over his trip to the Middle East this week as Democrats have ridiculed the gift as “unconstitutional.”
“Trump is literally trying to fly around on a plane from a foreign government while serving as president. That’s a violation of the Constitution. The Emoluments Clause wasn’t a suggestion. It’s the LAW,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said Monday morning.
The Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution states that no elected official should accept a gift from a foreign country without consent from Congress. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., penned a letter to the Government Accountability Office on Sunday, formally calling for an ethics investigation into the gift as a violation of the clause.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but NO, Donald Trump cannot accept a $400 million flying palace from the royal family of Qatar. Not only is this farcically corrupt, it is blatantly unconstitutional. Congress must not allow this over-the-top kleptocracy to proceed,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said on Sunday as the news broke.
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When asked by Fox News Digital if Trump should accept the $400 million Qatari jet, Democratic senators were unanimous in their condemnation, calling the deal “smelly” and “risky” to national security.
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“We shouldn’t do it,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said, adding that, “We can build our own planes for security.”
Even if the Boeing plane was built in the United States, accepting the Qatari jet is “risky,” according to Welch.
“It’s smelly enough that he should come to Congress. It looks and feels an awful lot like an emolument, and he and his library will end up getting a personal benefit out of it,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told Fox News Digital when asked if Trump’s deal needed congressional approval.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., piled on the Trump criticism in a series of social media posts and even delivered a speech on the Senate floor, arguing Trump is “willing to sell out our nation’s security in exchange for billions in bribes, including a free luxury plane.”
“American foreign policy should never be for sale. With news that Qatar is gifting a $400 million plane to Trump, the White House’s corruption is becoming a bigger and bigger threat to our national security,” Murphy said in a social media post.
However, the Trump administration has continued to defend Qatar’s gift to the United States, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed it was not “Trump’s plane,” but it was donated to the U.S. Air Force.
On Wednesday morning, Trump signed a series of agreements with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, which included a Qatari purchasing agreement on 160 American Boeing planes, defense agreements and a declaration of cooperation between the countries.
Trump defended his decision to accept the Qatari jet on Tuesday, saying it would be “stupid” not to and emphasizing that he accepted it on behalf of the U.S. government, not himself.
“The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive. Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,” Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday following his remarks to reporters.
“This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump added.
