The Ultimate Gift: Qatar’s Dilemma and Trump’s Throne in the Sky

Image from YouTube (Video uploaded by The Muse Mix on May 11, 2025)

Gift-giving is a universal headache, isn’t it? We’ve all been there – scratching our heads over what to get someone who’s got the lot. Spare a thought for Qatar’s Royal Family, who faced this exact pickle when picking a present for Donald Trump. The man’s already got golf courses, skyscrapers, and – by his own reckoning – half the planet under his belt. A new country? Nah, too modest. A spare moon? Bit of a stretch. So, they settled on something truly bespoke: a Boeing 747-8, decked out with a gold-plated toilet seat smack in the middle. Because when you’ve got everything, what’s left but a throne that flies?

Enough with the humour. Now to the serious stuff.

It is reported that Qatar is gifting a luxury jet, dubbed a “flying palace,” for Trump to use as Air Force One during his second term, with ownership transferring to his presidential library by January 2029. The jet’s value is estimated at $400 million, making it possibly the most expensive gift ever given to the U.S. by a foreign government. This comes right after the Trump Organisation signed a $5.5 billion deal for a golf resort in Qatar. Conflict of interest, much?

The jet’s eventual transfer to Trump’s library, which he controls, fuels accusations of personal gain, with some calling it a blatant grift, noting Attorney General Pam Bondi’s past as a Qatari lobbyist.

Is it a bribe? Critics say yes, calling it “bribery in broad daylight.” The timing – fresh off the golf deal – suggests a quid pro quo, especially given Qatar’s alleged funding of Hamas, which some label as terrorism sponsors. Democrats Jamie Raskin and Adam Schiff point to the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which bars officials from accepting gifts from foreign states without congressional consent, claiming this violates it.

Legally, the Trump administration says it’s above board. The White House and DOJ argue it’s not bribery since the gift isn’t tied to an official act and is given to the U.S. Air Force, not Trump personally, before moving to his library. Bondi and White House lawyer David Warrington claim this structure skirts the Emoluments Clause. However, Qatar’s media attaché, Ali Al-Ansari, has pushed back, saying no final decision has been made, framing it as a potential government-to-government transfer under review.

My take? The legal argument feels like a loophole – routing it through the Air Force doesn’t erase the personal benefit Trump gains, nor does it address the lack of congressional approval. The timing with the golf deal stinks of influence peddling, even if not a direct bribe. Security concerns also loom; a foreign jet hosting classified talks is a risk, no matter the upgrades.

This looks like a deal that’s technically “legal” but reeks of ethical rot, fitting Trump’s pattern of blurring lines between public duty and private gain.

Update, 12/5/25: Someone is having a sook…

 

 

Dear reader, we need your support

Independent sites such as The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.

One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.

With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.

Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969

Donate Button

 

About Roswell 38 Articles
Roswell is American born though he was quite young when his family moved to Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Science and spent most of his working life in Canberra. His interests include anything that has an unsolved mystery about it, politics (Australian and American), science, history, and travelling. Roswell works a lot in Admin at The AIMN.

5 Comments

  1. Just another totally suss deal involving a corrupt grifter and a dodgy mid-east autocracy.

  2. I got ANOTHER email from Temu over the weekend.
    It was for this natty little arse-n-sac-n-nostrilhair scratcher/puller for the fella who has evertyhing. it comes in either bright shiny gold or “hot-wet-sticky” pink. If the deluxe package, which includes a real fake whale fur ear licker / bellybutton fluff remover with gold lam’e tongue, the purchaser also gets, for free, a special air pressure hooky hosey thingy for removing their head from their arse.
    And a sweet little environmentally friendly bamboo handled brush for wiping the poo from behind the ears.
    “A flying toilet.” I hope that when he hits the ejector button he manages to flush himself free, and gravity does the rest.

  3. Donald Bludja-Grabba, the biggest leech in the world, gets a plane offer deal bribe gift. The oppressed, betrayed, threatened, sacked, reduced, victimised everywhere are cheering loudly at such success, for rarely has a man lower than a worm’s willy risen so high. There must follow peace, harmony, and more “deals”. As in Venice, Far Canal.

  4. There is no way he’s going to hand over this blatant bribe (Oh wait, the Qatari’s, like the rest of the world love The Dumpster) nice gift to his “presidential library”. It’s mine and like everything he’s given or takes it’s, “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

    What he’s done with the Tony Montana makeover of the White House leaves me wondering how the inside of Trump One is going to look. If he gets away…silly me, the Sycophant Society in the Cult of Donald will make sure he gets to keep it.

  5. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh………….and a Boeing 747-8 Dreamliner !

    Watch out for the booby trap.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*