Donald Trump has claimed Qatar offered him a luxury Boeing 747 as a free “gift” — but people directly involved say that’s not what happened at all, CNN reports.
According to four sources familiar with the talks, it was Trump’s own administration that reached out first — not Qatar. The goal: to get a plane faster than the delayed official Air Force One replacements.
Trump has publicly framed the potential deal as a generous gesture from Qatar’s royal family. “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE,” he wrote on Truth Social, calling it a temporary jet that would eventually go to his presidential library. In a Fox News interview, Trump added: “Qatar heard about it, and he’s a great leader. And we were talking, and he said, ‘If I can help you, let me do that.’ And they had a plane.”
But insiders paint a different picture — one where Trump’s team was the one knocking on doors.
After Trump took office, the Pentagon found out Boeing couldn’t deliver the new presidential jets for at least two years. That didn’t sit well with Trump, so the Air Force began looking for faster options.
Trump then directed his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to help find alternatives, a senior White House official confirmed. Boeing provided a list of international customers with suitable 747s — and Qatar was one of them.
“The Pentagon offered to buy the plane,” said one source familiar with the discussions. Qatar, they said, was open to selling.
According to another source, the Pentagon approached Qatar only after the White House made clear it supported the idea. Witkoff also helped initiate the contact, the official added.
Early conversations weren’t even about buying — they were about leasing.
So while Trump told the public the jet was a spontaneous gift, sources say his administration was actively hunting for one and made the first move.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later called the deal “a donation to our country,” saying the Qatari royal family “has offered to donate this plane to the United States Air Force, where that donation will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations.”
But the details of the deal — and Trump’s version of it — have stirred backlash. Critics in both parties say it raises serious ethical questions. Some Democrats are even threatening to hold up weapons sales to Qatar over the controversy.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, when pressed by reporters, didn’t support Trump’s version either.
“It has nothing to do with personnel, whether it’s on the US side or the Qatari side,” he said. “This is a very simple government-to-government dealing… and it’s still under the legal review.”
“If there is something that the US need and it’s completely legal and we can, we are able to help and to support the US, then we are not shying away,” he added. But he made clear the offer would be off the table if the deal turned out to be illegal.
For now, nothing has been finalized. “From that time [of U.S. outreach] until today, the matter is still with the legal teams,” said another source. “No decision has been made at all.”
The jet, reportedly worth around $400 million, has lost value. But converting it into a secure Air Force One would be a massive job. Experts say it could take two years and cost more than the plane itself. Intelligence and security agencies would have to gut it and rebuild it to meet presidential standards.
“I don’t see how you do this with an acceptable level of risk in a reasonable amount of time, if you can do it at all,” a former senior counterintelligence official told CNN.
Meanwhile, the two new Boeing 747-800s that are supposed to replace the current Air Force One aren’t expected to be ready until 2027 — five years late.
“I’m not happy with the fact that it’s taken so long,” Trump told reporters in February. “There’s no excuse for it.”
His solution? “I could buy one that was used and convert it,” Trump said. “So we’re looking at other alternatives.”
Now, with legal teams still negotiating and political pressure mounting, what Trump once called a “gift” is looking more like a deal his team went looking for — and one that’s far from done.
