On Wednesday, a spokesman for Pentagon Sean Parnell announced about the acceptance of the aircraft valued at approx. $ 400 million. “The Minister of Defense adopted Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal principles and regulations. The Department of Defense will work on ensuring that appropriate security measures and functional requirements of the missions will be taken into account in the case of a aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,” said Parnell.
Although the statement did not mention this, President Donald Trump previously suggested that the plane would be transferred to the foundation to his presidential library after his current term. According to ABC News, this is probably the most expensive gift from a foreign government in the history of the United States.
Trump, when asked about this during a meeting with the President of South Africa in the White House, stated that this was a “great matter” and that Qatar did “a very nice thing”, giving Jumbo Jeta to the US Air Force. He said that America needs a new presidential plane, but Boeing is late with the order for two modified 747.
In February, the president looked at the plane called the “flying palace” during a visit to Florida and expressed frustration due to Boeing delays.
Controversy around the “Flying Palace”
However, the case arouses great legal and security controversy. The constitution prohibits the acceptance of gifts from foreign countries without the consent of the Congress, and the aircraft will require serious modifications to adapt it to the transport of the president and checking it by intelligence services.
The deputy head of the Senate Commission for the Armed Forces, Democrat Jack Reed called on Wednesday the Pentagon General Inspector to initiate an investigation into the “insolent attempt to circumvent constitutional restrictions regarding the reception of personal gifts from foreign rule without the consent of Congress.” He also noted that the modification of the machine could take years. Disgus and anxieties in connection with the case were previously expressed by a number of Republican Congressmen and Senators.
Senator Josh Hawley told Radio NPR that he would prefer the presidential plane to be bought in America and stated that if Qatar wants to enter the grace of Washington, he should cut off the Islamist groups he supports. Senator Ted Cruz said that the gift “is a significant problem related to espionage and surveillance”, and the leader of the Republicans in the Senate John Thune announced that the case would be thoroughly investigated.
