The MAGA-World Rift Over Trump’s Qatari Jet
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/05/trump-qatar-plane-reaction/682811/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo
Posted by theatlantic
The MAGA-World Rift Over Trump’s Qatari Jet
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/05/trump-qatar-plane-reaction/682811/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo
Posted by theatlantic
3 comments
Jonathan Lemire and Russell Berman: “Trump has privately defended accepting the Qatari plane as a replacement for the current Air Force One, which dates to 1990. He has told aides and advisers that it is ‘humiliating’ for the president of the United States to fly in an outdated plane and that foreign leaders will laugh at him if he shows up at summits in the older aircraft, a White House official and an outside adviser told us, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The outside adviser said that Trump has also mused about continuing to use the Qatari plane after he departs the White House: [https://theatln.tc/po3VWq3I](https://theatln.tc/po3VWq3I)
“But in a rare moment of defiance, some of the loudest cries of protest about the possible gift are coming from some of Trump’s staunchest allies. ‘I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right,’ Ben Shapiro, a *Daily Wire* co-founder, said on his podcast. ‘President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.’
“Even in Washington, a capital now numbed to scandals that were once unthinkable, the idea of accepting the jet is jaw-dropping. Trump’s second administration is yet again displaying a disregard for norms and for traditional legal and political guardrails around elected office—this time at a truly gargantuan scale. Trump’s team has said it believes that the gift would be legal because it would be donated to the Department of Defense (and then to the presidential library). But federal law prohibits government workers from accepting a gift larger than $20 at any one time from any person. Retired General Stanley McChrystal, who once commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told us that he couldn’t ‘accept a lunch at the Capital Grille.’ Former federal employees shared similar reactions on social media.
“…For some in MAGA world, Trump’s decision to accept a plane from a Gulf state is the antithesis of his ‘America First’ foreign policy. It also clashes with his economic agenda to return manufacturing jobs and projects to the United States. Laura Loomer, whose influence with Trump helped lead to a recent purge at the National Security Council, has blasted the idea, posting on X, ‘This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.’ Mark Levin, another influential conservative voice, replied, ‘Ditto.’”
Read more: [https://theatln.tc/po3VWq3I](https://theatln.tc/po3VWq3I)
> Trump’s second administration is yet again displaying a disregard for norms and for traditional legal and political guardrails around elected office
Well when you say it like that, it makes it even more appealing to MAGA. I have grown to loathe this kind of academic reporting, because it makes it sound like the only reason we have these rules is because of “traditional norms”.
The Trump Organization just announced a new golf course as part of a $5.5 billion real estate project in Qatar. Then he takes a $400M jet from them ($1 billion+ after all the upgrades). **The President of the United States now has deep conflicts of interests in a country that allegedly funds terrorists.** And we’re not talking peanuts, this investment is a significant percentage of his wealth: his net worth is only around $5 billion! Now everyone wonders: can he be trusted to act in the US’s interest and not Qatar’s?
*That’s* why presidents shouldn’t be taking gifts, not because of “traditional legal and political guardrails”.
Is he an angry teenager or a freaking president?
>He has told aides and advisers that it is ‘humiliating’ for the president of the United States to fly in an outdated plane and that foreign leaders will laugh at him if he shows up at summits in the older aircraft
Gives “buuuuttt mum, I can’t use last year’s iPhone. All the cool kids have a new one. They will make fun of me” vibe
Also, /u/theatlantic why you have no balls to call bribe a bribe? Trump is getting bribed.
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