Trump faces serious GOP questions over Air Force One Qatar plan

President Trump has returned from the Middle East to mounting questions about whether it’s appropriate for him to accept a luxury Qatari jet to serve as the next Air Force One, including from Republicans increasingly dubious that the move is a smart and worthwhile idea. 

Republicans have given the president a wide berth on a multitude of issues throughout his first four months in office as they push to enact his agenda. However, very few are rushing to his defense after he made clear he plans to accept the $400 million gift.

“It’s an unnecessary distraction,” one Senate Republican told The Hill about the GOP conference’s mood about the potential transaction.

Many Republicans believe the gift will not really be free given how long it will take to make the plane safe and secure enough to fly. That will also take a lot of time, leaving some Republicans saying Trump might be lucky to even fly on the plane at all before his term is over. 

“This is like a combination of ‘Fixer Upper’ and ‘Pimp My Ride,’” the source said. “It’s going to cost a lot of money.”

Trump has long been frustrated with the situation surrounding Air Force One.

Much of his ire has been directed at Boeing, which was contracted to build two new planes to serve as Air Force One, but has been beset by delays and budget overruns that have kept completion at arm’s length. 

That all boiled over last weekend as Trump confirmed he was preparing to accept the Boeing 747-8 jumbo luxury jet. It would be gifted to the Department of Defense and, at the end of the term, handed over to the Trump presidential library. 

A number of GOP senators say they don’t think the plan is a good idea. They note the Qatari plane will have to go through an arduous process to fulfill all the specifications and requirements an aircraft needs to become Air Force One.

They want to make sure the plan is safe not only to fly, but also to carry people discussing U.S. secrets.

“This gift from Qatar is rife with legal, ethical, and practical impediments, including the potential for espionage. I’m not sure how we would be able to adequately inspect and outfit it to prevent that from happening,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a statement.

“Also, by the time the plane is done, the President’s term may well be nearly finished,” she continued. “Ultimately, I’m not sure why this is necessary at all.” 

Even among Trump’s most ardent backers in the upper chamber, his willingness to accept the gift of significant largesse has received a cool reception. 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) immediately pointed to Qatar’s support for Hamas, repeating multiple times that he wasn’t sure how to make the plane safe enough for the president.

Others had intelligence-related worries. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) pressed that the plane “poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.” 

“I’m not a fan of Qatar. I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “And that’s a real problem.”

A number of other members said they simply wanted the White House to follow the law or declined to discuss it much at all, noting that any deal has not been finalized and is “hypothetical.” 

The small group of senators offering support for Trump on the Qatari jet includes Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is probably the most prominent. He objected when Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) attempted to pass resolutions via unanimous consent aimed at the gift. 

Schatz's would have condemned “any acceptance of Presidential aircraft, or any other substantial gift, from a foreign government.” The Blumenthal resolution sought to authorize a Senate-led lawsuit to enforce the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits lawmakers from accepting gifts from foreign countries without congressional approval.

The Alabama Republican told The Hill there was little appetite among Senate GOP members to be the one objecting to the two resolutions.

“All I know is they went through everybody to get to me on that objection to the [unanimous consent],” he said.

“I think people have short memories,” Tuberville said when asked why more Senate GOP members aren’t vocally backing Trump on the issue, conceding there’s “not a lot of information on it” yet. 

In the meantime, Democrats appear intent on keeping this issue front and center in the coming weeks. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and a number of his colleagues are trying to force votes on arms sales rolled out during Trump’s Middle East trip, including a $1.9 billion sale to Qatar that they argue represents out-and-out corruption because the Trump Organization has signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to build a golf course with a firm associated with the Qatari sovereign wealth fund. 

The items were filed as joint resolutions of disapproval, meaning Democrats will force floor action. It is unclear when the votes will be held. 

“This isn’t a gift out of the goodness of their hearts — it’s an illegal bribe that the president of the United States is champing at the bit to accept,” he said. “That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy.”