‘You should be embarrassed’: Trump hits back at criticism of his luxurious ‘gift’ from Qatar

US President Donald Trump has hit back fiercely at critics — which include the press and members of his own team — over a decision he says is a no-brainer.

US President Donald Trump has fiercely defended his decision to accept a luxurious $625 million plane from the Middle Eastern kingdom Qatar, deriding those concerned about the potential for corruption as “world class losers”.

Qatar responded to an outbreak of angst over the proposal, yesterday, by stressing that both it and the United States were still considering the legality of the idea, and no final decision had been made. It called media reports on the matter “inaccurate”.

But Mr Trump seems certain it will happen, judging by his latest remarks on the matter.

Mr Trump at the White House today. Picture: Mark Schiefelbein

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The reports in US media suggest the 747-800 jet, previously owned by Qatar’s royal family and known colloquially as a “palace in the sky”, will be given to the US Defence Department and converted into the new presidential plane, Air Force One, at no small expense.

Then, after Mr Trump leaves office in January of 2029, the American government will give it to his presidential library, essentially allowing him to use it as his own private plane.

The deal’s announcement may coincide with Mr Trump’s four-day trip to the Middle East this week, which includes a stop in Qatar.

“So the fact that the Defence Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that!” Mr Trump wrote on social media today.

He added: “The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”

‘You should be embarrassed’

The issue came up during an event at the White House today. Mr Trump was signing an unrelated executive order, but the plane still got a mention.

“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Mr Trump told reporters.

“I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But I thought it was a great gesture.”

A reporter from America’s ABC News, Rachel Scott, followed up.

“What do you say to people who view that luxury jet as a personal gift to you?” she asked.

Mr Trump at Joint Base Andrews. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images via AFP

“You’re ABC fake news, right?” Mr Trump responded

“Only ABC – well, a few of you would. Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question.

“They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, ‘No, no no, don’t give us. I want to pay you a billion, or 400 million, or whatever it is.’ Or I could say thank you very much.”

“Respectfully sir, as a businessman, some people may look at this and say, ‘Have you ever been given a gift worth millions of dollars and then not-’” Ms Scott started to say.

“It’s not a gift to me. It’s a gift to the Department of Defence,” Mr Trump interjected.

“And you should know better, because you’ve been embarrassed enough, and so has your network. Your network is a disaster. ABC is a disaster.”

‘Disgraceful’: Trump’s own side pummels him

ABC News is hardly alone in asking these questions.

The Qatar plane saga is one of those rare instances in which even figures who are usually vociferous supporters of Mr Trump have been criticising him.

The Free Press, a publication whose focus is usually on the excesses of America’s political left, published an editorial calling the plane deal “disgraceful”.

“The Qatari plane is not an exception but the rule for the second Trump administration so far. Both foreign friends and foes are now treating this as a pay to play presidency,” it said.

“This is precisely the kind of self-dealing in the executive branch that Congress is supposed to check and balance, according to our Constitution. But the Republican Party, so outraged over Hunter Biden’s corruption, has been mute.

“And the Democrats, for the most part, have been too busy screaming about every other Trump tweet and policy action to focus on the scandal in plain sight.

“Five months ago it looked like Hunter Biden’s saga was a cautionary tale. Today it appears to be an ominous precedent.”

Hunter Biden – Joe Biden’s son – has been at the epicentre of a great deal of Republican suspicion and outrage over the years for his efforts to profit off his father’s surname.

As Sam Stein, managing editor of The Bulwark, put it yesterday, the Qatar plane plan would be: “Like if a top business in Ukraine gave Hunter Biden a plane, only it wasn’t a business, it was the government itself. And it wasn’t Hunter Biden, it was Joe. And it didn’t happen when Joe was out of office, but when he was actually president.”

Mr Trump boards Air Force One. Picture: Alex Brandon/AP

Ben Shapiro, one of the more influential right-wing figures in the American media, echoed that point on his show with The Daily Wire.

“Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest, that’s not America First,” said Mr Shaprio.

“Like, please define America First in a way that says you should take sacks of cash from the Qatari royals. It just isn’t America first in any conceivable way

“Is this good for President Trump? Is it good for his agenda? Is it good for draining the swamp and getting things done? The answer is no, it isn’t. It isn’t. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.”

He also raised the Trump family’s foray into cryptocurrency, which has seen Mr Trump, his wife and his children profit immensely in the months since he took office.

“This raises the question of influence peddling. If you basically buy a bunch of Trump meme coin and then funnel money to organisations associated with President Trump so that you can have dinner with Trump, that doesn’t look great,” said a rather dry Mr Shapiro.

“If you want President Trump’s agenda to succeed, taking jets from Qatar is not the way. Taking real estate deals from Qatar is not the way. The largest obstacle to any administration is scandal. From Watergate to Whitewater, scandal-plagued administrations have a tough time gathering the political capital necessary to actually effectuate their agenda, and that’s why it’s unbelievably important that the Trump administration avoid scandal.

“That is the reason I am worried about this stuff. Yes, I think inherently it is bad. I do not think this is good. I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right.”

Mr Trump on the White House lawn. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

‘The peril of corruption’

Fox News legal analyst Andrew McCarthy, a former prosecutor, is generally worth listening to on this stuff because unlike a great many other legal experts, he’s not reflexively anti-Trump.

Today he described Mr Trump’s stance in the Qatar plane saga as “indefensible”.

“The President and his flacks again demonstrate that they don’t grasp the concepts of constitutional duty and conflicts of interest,” Mr McCarthy wrote for National Review, also citing Mr Trump’s cryptocurrency venture, from which he’s profiting while in office.

“It is outrageous that the United States of America, the most formidable air power in history, should have to obtain a conveyance for the commander-in-chief from any foreign power, let alone a despotic Gulf regime whose major export, besides dollars for Hamas, is an anti-American, antisemitic, counter-constitutional ideology.

“The peril of corruption by foreign regimes is no less perilous by dint of being played out in the open.”

Mr McCarthy went on to call other “rationalisations” being offered by the Trump administration, particularly Attorney-General Pam Bondi, “ridiculous”.

For instance, Ms Bondi’s assessment that the plane would not constitute a “bribe” under the law is, in his view, irrelevant.

“To trigger the Emoluments Clause, it is not necessary that the essential elements of a criminal bribery prosecution be satisfied. The Constitution prohibits gifts, not bribes,” Mr McCarthy argued.

“The fact that the aircraft would ultimately be transferred to Trump in his post-presidency only underscores that it is a gift to him personally.”

The “Emoluments Clause” of the US Constitution forbids federal government officials, including the president, from accepting gifts from foreign powers.

Richard Painter, who served as an ethics lawyer in the White House under Republican president George W. Bush, said the gift would only be legal under that clause with assent from Congress, which Mr Trump has not bothered to seek.

“This airplane can only be accepted by President Trump if Congress consents,” he said.

“To say it’s being given to his presidential library, rather than to him, that doesn’t make any sense. He’s going to be using this plane.

“We can’t have our president or anyone else being influenced by foreign government gifts.”