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Published on May 15, 2025
The administration of US President Donald Trump has accepted an aircraft worth an estimated 400 million US dollar from the state of Qatar. While Trump is president, the White House says that it would be used as a new Air Force One, then it would go to Trump’s presidential library after the end of his term.
ABC News reported that the plane would be the most expensive gift from a foreign government by a chosen US official. However, some members of the congress say that it would be unconstitutional.
When asked about the potential gift when signing an executive order on May 12, Trump Boeing accused lack of progress in building a new Air Force One. He said he was “stupid” to reject a free plane and said he would not use it after leaving the office. “It is not a gift for me, it is a gift to the Ministry of Defense,” he said.
What do experts say?
Legal experts announced politicifact that they believe that the acceptance of the gift against the emrusting clause of the US constitution would violate: “Nobody who has an office of profit or trust among them should accept without the consent of the congress, a present, an emolument, an office or ownership, from any king, prince or abroad.”
The emolutionary clause was designed to “prevent foreign nations from gaining an inappropriate influence on the US leaders,” said David Forte, Emeritus Law Professor of Cleveland State University.
Experts differed whether accepting the aircraft would be an ancient crime.
Michael Gerhardt, a law professor from the University of North Carolina, said that if Trump accepts the gift, it could be a tadable document because it would be a “fully corrupt action”.
Forte, however, said that the gift would not necessarily be a bribery or ancilable crime, but it is a form of influence to gain thanks to the recipient through its vanity. “
Is this the first time that Trump is exposed to such allegations?
While Trump’s first term as US President, Congress Democrats, private individuals and general prosecutors from Maryland and Washington, DC, they submitted complaints against Trump, who came from the emrocers.
However, many of the cases were dismissed for procedural reasons, and the US Supreme Court did not decide on the underlying constitutionality of the transactions.
Trump’s possible acceptance of the aircraft is different, said Frank Bowman, an emeritus legal professor from the University of Missouri.
During his first term, Trump said that payments were made to his business. This time there would be no connection to Trump’s shops. It would be a gift that is offered free of charge without promising the president or the US Ministry of Finance, Bowman said.
NBC News, citing an official of the anonymous high -ranking Ministry of Justice, reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi approved a memo created by the legal advisor’s agency, which was legally created for the Ministry of Defense to accept the gift. Bondi previously campaigned on behalf of the state of Qatar.
Trump, on his part, thanked Qatar for the jet.
“If we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Ministry of Defense in a few years [Boeing is] I think that’s a very nice gesture [from Qatar]”, He said on May 12th.
Can the emrocers clause against Trump be enforced?
Legal experts said it was unlikely that the Trump congress controlled by Republicans will stop accepting the gift.
Meghan Faulkner, Communication Director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that the Ministry of Justice, since it seems that the Ministry of Justice has received the gift, “could make it more difficult to hold it into account”.
Bowman said that the Ministry of Justice would not pursue a seated president after many years of politics.
Faulkner said Trump would benefit from this after the execution of emolutionary challenges during his first term. “The enforcement of the emrubs clause in front of the dishes would face similar challenges [in his second term]Including the challenge of finding a plaintiff, the one was to question the violations, ”she said.