The acceptance of the gift by the Ministry corresponds to all “rules and regulations” of the United States, emphasized pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
The US constitution prohibits government officials, gifts, titles or the like “from a king, prince or foreign state” without accepting the US Congress. Trump wants to avoid this anti-corruption clause through the gift to the Pentagon.
Trump had visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week and announced extensive armaments and business contracts there. Before his trip, he said he was “stupid” if he did not accept the “free, very expensive plane”. The gift saves the state a lot of money to replace the two outdated presidents of the Air Force One fleet.
The minority leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, had described the gift of Katar as “bribery” and “first-class foreign influence with additional legroom”. Politicians from the Republicans and other supporters of Trump also reacted critically. Among other things, they pointed out that Qatar supports the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
