US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 from Qatar, which will be used as President Donald Trump's official plane, the Pentagon announced, quoted by the Associated Press and BTA.
This has raised questions about the ethics and legality of accepting the expensive gift from a foreign country, the agency notes.
The Defense Department "will work to ensure appropriate security measures" on the plane to make it safe for use by the president, a Pentagon spokesman said last night. He added that the plane was received “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.”
Trump defended the gift, which was discussed during his recent trip to the Middle East, as a way to save taxpayers money. “Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars when they can get it for FREE,” Trump wrote on his social media account during the trip.
But others said Trump’s acceptance of the plane, which has been called a “palace in the sky,” violated the constitutional ban on foreign gifts. Democrats were united in their outrage, and even some of the president’s Republican allies in Congress expressed concern. They also noted that the plane needs to be retrofitted to meet security requirements, which will be expensive and time-consuming.
The plane is valued at about $400 million, Reuters and DPA said.