May 15th, 2025
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For President Donald Trump, getting a new airplane for free from Qatar is a very easy choice.
The Republican told reporters on Monday, 'I would always take that offer. It would be silly to say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane.''
Some people are worried that this plan could change a famous sign of American power into a flying problem with many different issues.
"This has never happened before," said Jessica Levinson, a law expert. "We haven't tried these things before."
Trump said he would not use the special plane after he finished being president. He said the plane would go to a future museum about presidents, like the plane used by President Reagan.
"It will go straight to the library after I leave my job," Trump said. "I will not use it."
But that did not stop the problems with the plane. People in the Democratic party are very angry, and some people who support the Republican president are also worried. Laura Loomer, who believes in strange ideas and wants to remove people she doesn't like from the government, wrote online that she would 'die for Trump' but that she was 'very unhappy' about this.
Republicans in Congress have also said they are not sure about the plan.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said, "I think it would be good if Air Force One was a big, nice plane made in the USA. That would be best."
Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky said no when asked if Trump should take the plane. He said it didn't look or feel right. When a reporter asked about legal problems, the Republican senator did not answer.
People will probably keep asking Trump about the plane when he goes to the Middle East, for example when he stops in Qatar.
The two planes used as Air Force One are very old, almost 40 years old. President Trump wants new ones. When he was president the first time, he showed a model of a new, big plane in his office. It had a new color design that looked like his own plane, which was red, white, and dark blue.
Boeing has had problems changing 747 planes that were made for a Russian airline that doesn't exist anymore. This project has been very slow for almost ten years because of different problems, like one company they worked with going out of business and it being hard to find and keep workers who could get important security permissions.
The new planes will not be ready until near the end of Trump's time as president, and he is tired of waiting. He said the situation is "a total mess," and he said that Air Force One is not as good as the planes some Arab leaders use.
He said the situation was very different from what they thought.
Trump said Qatar offered a different plane to use. Qatar has the biggest U.S. army base in the Middle East. The government was waiting for Boeing to finish the plane.
"We distribute items at no cost," he stated. "We'll also acquire one for ourselves."
He got angry when people said he should not take the plane. He said it was like getting help when playing golf.
When they say your golf ball is close, you pick it up and go to the next hole and say, 'Thank you,' he said.
Senator John Thune from South Dakota said he was not sure.
The Republican told reporters, "I understand why he is angry. They are very late with the next Air Force One. I don't know if this is the right thing to do."
Do you think the new airplane will be completely safe for passengers?
People say the plane from Qatar is like a "palace in the sky." This is because it has very nice rooms and the best things inside.
But safety is the main worry when the president travels. The planes the president uses now were built a long time ago, almost 40 years ago. They are very strong and can survive a nuclear explosion. They also have many safety features, like ways to stop missiles and a room to do surgery. The planes can also get more fuel while flying if needed, but this has never happened with the president on board.
A former U.S. official said they could add some things to the plane, but not all of them quickly.
An official said it would be dangerous for presidents to fly on this kind of plane. The official did not want their name used because the program is secret.
Air Force One has very good ways to communicate. The president can use it like a special office in the sky to deal with problems anywhere in the world.
But on September 11, 2001, President Bush was not happy with how people communicated. He ordered a lot of new technology in the next few years so the president could see events better and talk to people all over the world.
Boeing is making the new planes simpler. Workers are changing the old wires to special protected wires. They are also adding secret safety and communication parts to the plane.
Because a president needs to talk clearly and safely, some people worry that Trump would make things less safe by quickly changing the plane from Qatar.
William Evanina, who worked for a security group, wrote online that it will take many years to take the plane apart and look for spy devices.
He said the plane was just an old museum piece for the president.
Is this allowed by the law, or is it a good thing to do?
Trump wants to get a big plane as a gift, and this has surprised many people in Washington.
The Constitution says government workers cannot take gifts or money from other countries unless Congress agrees.
Richard Painter, a law professor, said this is a good example of what the founders were worried about. But he thinks they didn't think it would be this bad.
Someone from the White House said they are still deciding the details of the money gift, but it will follow the rules.
She said Qatar did not want to change Trump's ideas.
She said, "They know President Trump, and they know he always thinks about what is best for American people."
When Trump was president, he had a legal problem about money. This was because people who wanted to influence the government, business people, and people from other countries stayed at his hotel in D.C. Trump's lawyers said the law was not against paying for things like a hotel room. They said it was only against getting gifts. But some lawyers who work with rules about what is right and wrong did not agree. We don't know if countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines paid the normal price, or more, when they stayed at the hotel.
During his second time as president, Trump's family business worked a lot in other countries. For example, in December, they agreed to build two projects in Saudi Arabia. Two years before, they also worked with the same company on a golf course and houses in Oman. And last month in Qatar, the Trump company said they will build another hotel near the sea.
Four Democrat senators said Trump's plan is bad because it causes problems with his job, is dangerous for the country, lets other countries have too much power, and makes people not trust the government.
They said that everyone must follow the law, even the president.
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