House Dems want to investigate Trump plane gift from Qatar

While Trump’s accomplishments in the Middle East should be the big story this week, sadly, it is Donald Trump wanting to accept a new plane from Qatar.

Trump is seeing resistance on both sides of the aisle on this, and now Democrats have stated they are going to investigate the matter.

The Resistance

I think most people do not realize the political and financial ramifications of accepting this gift, so I am going to try to break all that down in this report, but first I want to get into the reactions by Republicans.

While there are Republicans who have no problem with this gift, there are quite a few who think it is a huge mistake.

The most notable of these is Senator Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who stated he is not comfortable with the idea, adding that there are “lots of issues associated with that offer which I think need to be further talked about.”

Even Senator Cruz (R-TX), who has supported Trump since they tussled in the 2016 primary, rejected the idea, stating, “I also think that the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems. So we’ll see how this issue plays out.”

The Investigation

Democrats are jumping all over this, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is eager to lead the charge, stating that he wants to investigate the matter.

A group being led by Raskin stated, "President Trump’s statements expressing displeasure with delays in the delivery of his new Boeing aircraft to serve as Air Force One and the timing of this ‘gift’ suggest that President Trump or a member of his Administration may have improperly solicited this 'nice gesture' from the Qatari government.

"The fact that, according to President Trump, the plane would not remain in service to the United States but would rather be donated to his presidential library after his term concludes further raises the possibility that this ‘nice gesture’ is intended as a bribe to Donald Trump."

The letter concluded, "The Constitution is clear: Congress — not the Attorney General or the White House Counsel — has the exclusive authority to approve or reject a gift 'of any kind whatever' given to the President by a foreign government.”

The Issues

Raskin is right, per 5 U.S. Code § 7342 - Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations, which does not exclude the president, but this goes much deeper than seeking congressional approval.

The plane might be free, but fitting it to serve as Air Force One will not be, as the plane would have to be stripped down to its shell to be inspected, put back together, then fitted with all the technology needed to make it into a flying command center for the president, likely to cost about $1 billion or more, as well as taking a year or longer to complete.

Boeing has clearly dropped the ball on the new planes, but the company already has $3.5 billion in taxpayer money, and since Boeing built the Qatar plane, it would be at the top of the list to do the refitting, where the same challenges of supply chain, workers with security clearances, etc., would all still be relevant. Not to mention, Boeing would likely jack up the bill to try to recoup some of the $2.5 billion in overages from the original order.

If I am being brutally honest, the only reason Trump wants this plane is because it would be donated to his library after he leaves office, otherwise, this makes no sense. The Air Force One contract with Boing was a locked in price, so this plane would add another $1 billion, at least, to the tab of the American taxpayer. There is simply no way Trump should accept this plane, and I don’t care what excuse or spin he or any other Republican offers on this… it’s a bad idea.