A bombshell ABC News report reveals President Donald Trump will take a $400 million luxury jet from a foreign royal family to use as Air Force One — and the Department of Justice insists it’s perfectly legal.
According to the report by Jonathan Karl and Katherine Faulders, Trump toured the aircraft back in February. The jet, a Boeing 747-8, is described as a “flying palace” and may be the most expensive gift ever handed to the U.S. from a foreign country.
“In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar — a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation,” ABC News reported.
The arrangement has set off alarm bells — but the Trump administration insists it’s perfectly legal.
Even before the news broke, Trump’s team had already drawn up a legal defense. ABC’s sources say that lawyers from the White House and the DOJ, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump’s top White House lawyer David Warrington, concluded the move is “legally permissible.”
They argue it’s allowed under U.S. law because the plane won’t belong to Trump personally — it will go to his presidential library, paid for with taxpayer money.
And, crucially, Trump’s DOJ insists it’s not bribery because, in their words, “the gift is not conditioned on any official act.”
Still, the situation is unprecedented. NBC noted: “The highly unusual — unprecedented — arrangement is sure to raise questions about whether it is legal for the Trump administration, and ultimately, the Trump presidential library foundation, to accept such a valuable gift from a foreign power.”
ABC’s sources say the DOJ prepared a formal legal opinion stating it’s not a violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which forbids U.S. officials from taking gifts from foreign powers.
But that’s unlikely to stop the wave of criticism and suspicion now surrounding this so-called gift.
This may be legal on paper — but to many, it looks like something else entirely.
