Inside Trump’s $400m new jet that has outraged even Maga loyalists
During Donald Trump’s first term, Qatari authorities famously rented San Francisco office space in which the president had a stake.
Despite its prime location, and presumably steep price, it remained empty.
When Qatari officials visited Washington DC, they – along with representatives of at least 33 foreign countries – often stayed at the Trump International Hotel, where the presidential suite ran to $10,500 (£7,950) a night.
Often those countries were trying to influence the US Government. An investigation found Trump’s hotel earned about $3.75m (£2.4m) from the visits.
All of that feels curiously innocent compared to Trump’s intention to accept a $400m luxury aircraft from the Qatari royal family to be used as his presidential plane.
Interior images of the plane (Photo: AMAC Aerospace)
An interior iamge of the plane (Photo: AMAC Aerospace)
ABC News said ownership of the plane would be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation at the conclusion of his term, meaning he could keep using it, rather than his successor.
Qatari authorities appear to have figured out what might capture the attention of a man famous for his golden escalator and shiny fittings at properties such as Trump Tower.
The interior of the 747-8 jet was photographed when it was at Palm Beach International Airport earlier this year, an occasion when Trump took the opportunity to take a look for himself.
Photos showing the jet earlier in its life, highlighted by the news site Semafor, could only be described as luxurious. Pale leather upholstered seats that can recline when needed, and an area where four seats are set around a table to enable people to hold a meeting.
Interior images of the plane (Photo: AMAC Aerospace)
Interior images of the plane (Photo: AMAC Aerospace)
There is also another area with a sofa and cushions and what appears to be a large TV set fixed to the wall. (The Qataris may have remembered this president enjoys little more than watching himself on Fox News.)
Another image shows a cabinet with tastefully lit lamps.
Democrats have condemned the gift as nothing less than corruption. Many have pointed out that after winning reelection, the president embarked on a series of steps that appear set to benefit him financially, including establishing his own cryptocurrency the day before he was inaugurated.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy marked the president’s first 100 days by listing dozens of things he said were either illegal, unconstitutional or both. “This is not normal. None of this is normal,” said the Connecticut Senator.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One on 13 April, 2025 (Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters)
“This is outlandish, this is illegal, this is unconstitutional, brazen corruption.”
Trump has typically enough defended the plan, which was given the legal green light by Pam Bondi, his attorney general.
Bondi was, until recently, a lobbyist for the Qatari government, earning $115,000 (£87,000) a month.
Trump seemed positively repelled by the idea that US government might pay for a plane it wants to use.
“So the fact that the Defence Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!”
Maga unrest
Yet it seems the deal might be too much for even some of Trump’s most loyal supporters.
The conspiracy theorist and occasional Trump adviser Laura Loomer said it was not a good idea.
“I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him,” she wrote on X.
“But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400m ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.”
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer (Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP)
Loomer claimed Qataris had help fund and Hamas and Hezbollah. (While there is evidence money from Qatar has helped Hamas in Gaza, it is not clear that anything has gone to Hezbollah, commonly considered a proxy for Iran).
The Fox News host and Trump ally Mark Levin said: “Qatar must stop buying our colleges and universities and spreading their anti-American, Jew-hating propaganda and funding terrorist groups and front groups.”
He added: “Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek.”
Qatar has long been an important US ally in the Middle East and is home of the Udeid Air Base.
Strings attached?
It seems clear what Qatar wants from this gift to Trump.
Doha has become an increasingly important strategic player in the region – it recently hosted talks between the various parties seeking an end to Israeli attacks on the Gazan population.
Its lavish a controversial hosting of the 2022 World Cup showed it has cultural ambitions, too.
We know that Trump – about to embark on a Middle East trip that will take in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, likes shiny things. When he visited Saudi in his first term, he was awarded the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud, the nation’s top civilian honour, which appeared to please the president greatly.
Trump evidently feels less constrained than in his first term, picking fights with the US judiciary and paying little heed to the ethical norms of American politics.
He is surrounded by loyalists. With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, there is rarely anybody willing to challenge him, from his tariffs to his warping of Western postwar alliances.
That even Trump’s most loyal supporters are wary shows that this is a truly outlandish arrangement.
