President Donald Trump took time out during his Middle East trip Tuesday to make the case for accepting the gift of a luxury jet from the government of Qatar as the offer faces mounting criticism from members of his own party.

In May 2025, the nation of Qatar gave the Department of Defense a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be remodeled into a new Air Force One.

Trump attacks foreign and even Qatari donations to the Clinton Foundation. Now he wants to accept the biggest gift of all.

The Constitution bars federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign states without the consent of Congress.

The president boasts the plane, which will be used as Air Force One until he leaves office, is a "gift, free of charge," but Democrats fear it is "bribery."

"Can't beat free," one Republican senator said of the president's plan to accept the luxury gift from the monarchy of Qatar.

Trump’s plan to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar has ignited a full-blown firestorm among Democrats in Congress

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday vowed to block all of President Donald Trump's nominees to the Justice Department until the agency reports what it knows about Qatar's offer to give Trump's administration a $400 million airplane.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and GOP firebrand senators are among those voicing discomfort with the deal.

With the news that the royal family of Qatar is gifting a $400 million airliner to the Trump administration to use as a new Air Force One, it has become clear to me that if Donald Trump were a country, he’d be Qatar.

President Donald Trump would plainly like America to be more like the Gulf states he’s touring on the first big foreign trip of his new term.