The Trump administration is set to accept a luxury plane from the Qatari royal family that will be retrofitted and used as Air Force One during the president’s second term, two people familiar with the agreement told CNN.
The news comes as President Donald Trump embarks today on his first major foreign trip, which includes a stop in Doha, Qatar.
Given the massive value of a Boeing 747-8, the move is unprecedented and raises substantial ethical and legal questions.
A Qatari official says the plane is technically being gifted from the Qatari Ministry of Defense to the Pentagon, describing it more as a government-to-government transaction instead of a personal one.
The Defense Department will then retrofit the plane for the president’s use with security features and modifications.
The plan is for the plane to be donated to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office, ensuring he can continue to use it, according to a person familiar.
Within the Secret Service, the potential gifting of a plane by a foreign government for presidential use is being viewed as a “security nightmare,” a law enforcement source told CNN.
[Source: CNN]
