After Trump Officially Accepts Gift Of $400M Qatari Jet, Critics From Both Parties Try To Block Its Use As Air Force One

by Riley GoldmanJune 8, 2025, 8:11 pmNews >

President Donald Trump and the United States have officially accepted a Qatari gift of a luxury jet for use as Air Force One, according to the Pentagon.

The White House accepted this gift despite significant concerns from lawmakers and MAGA allies about the ethical and financial implications that this jet represents.

While the jet was a gift, numerous modifications were required for it to be used by the president, including a comprehensive security sweep and retrofitting for secure communications. These upgrades are expected to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the Boeing 747 “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.”

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“The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States,” he continued.

Although Trump has designated the jet as a cost-saving move since the Air Force’s plan to replace the current fleet with Boeing planes has been delayed, his interest in the jet has lawmakers worried. They are worried about the security risks and ethical problems that come with the president accepting a foreign-owned aircraft.

“It still sounds like a pretty bad idea to have a foreign government outfitting the most highly sensitive plane in the U.S. arsenal,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview.

Since this announcement from the White House, Murphy has drafted a resolution to challenge the deal. “This sounds like a question Congress should debate,” he said.

Trump has discussed continuing to use the jet personally after leaving office or keeping it at his presidential library, which raises more questions about the cost of this deal.

Murphy has called this decision “fundamentally corrupt.”

The Air Force and Boeing have been working on delivering two new Air Force One aircraft, but issues with the construction of the planes have delayed the delivery date to 2027, provided specific requirements are relaxed.

The plane has been in San Antonio, Texas, for weeks, waiting, according to a defense official.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani defended the gift, saying it is “a normal thing that happens between allies.”

This decision is facing bipartisan backlash. “We love it that Qatar wants to be friends with the United States again,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said. “But they could start by quitting harboring and promoting Islamic terrorists who want to kill Americans at every turn.”