President Trump has set his eyes on a Qatari 747 to become the new Air Force One after the Emirati nation reportedly offered to give him the plane amid delays by Boeing to deliver two new airplanes to the Defense Department. 

The president toured the plane back in February when it was on the ground at Palm Beach International Airport. He reportedly wants to take it home with him after he leaves office as part of a package of artifacts destined for his presidential library.  He may continue to use it personally, a departure from President Reagan’s receipt of his Air Force One, which still sits in his library.

The 747-8 jumbo jet is valued at $400 million and the gift would be the largest ever donation from a foreign nation to a sitting president. The news sparked immediate backlash from officials and others concerned that acceptance would violate ethics rules. 

“Air Force One will have something in common with Hamas. Paid for by Qatar,” wrote New York Representative Richie Torres on X. In a letter to the Comptroller General and Inspector General of the Defense Department released Sunday, Mr. Torres called the reported deal a case of “flying grift” the the “latest chapter in a tawdry tale of presidential profiteering unprecedented in American history.”

A statement from Qatari officials, however, called reports that a plane was being “gifted” the president during his upcoming trip to the region inaccurate. “The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” the statement said.

The president has evidently expressed frustration with Boeing, which received a $3.9 billion federal contract during the president’s first term to build two new VC-25A planes that could serve as Air Force One, the name given to the aircraft when the president is aboard. However, the project has been so beleaguered by delays, which Boeing attributes to sophisticated wiring and structural demands, that the planes may not be delivered before the end of Trump’s current term.  

The current Air Force One was first put in use during George H.W. Bush’s term. Mr. Trump’s own plane was also put in service in the 1990s so the 13-year-old jet would be a significant upgrade.

The Qatari plane would not be put into use right away as the Defense Department must outfit it with the safety modifications — assuming that it won’t strip it down to the bolts for security reasons. Previously, security officials rejected changes as seemingly simple as the proposed color scheme for Air Force One because a darker blue could increase its heat signature, making it easier to detect by heat-seeking missiles. 

Nonetheless, a rival to Boeing, L3Harris, has reportedly been hired to do the AF1 retrofit for the U.S. Air Force, which will be the official recipient of the gift. Attorney General Bondi’s legal opinion delivered last week states that the gift is not a violation of the Constitution’s emolument clause barring gifts to the president from heads of state because the gift is going first to the Air Force and then will be transferred to the library.  

Ms. Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Qatar in 2019-2020 ahead of the 2022 World Cup on issues related to human trafficking and foreign laborers in the nation. She earned $115,000 per month for her services.