The Qatari government made headlines recently by offering the Trump administration a new jet to replace the existing Air Force One.
While the massively expensive gift was widely interpreted as a goodwill gesture from one nation to another, leftists in the U.S. were quick to admonish President Donald Trump for accepting it.
That trend continued during a recent White House press conference during which one ABC News reporter confronted Trump on the decision.
According to the Daily Caller:
“What do you say to people who say that you got a luxury jet as a personal gift to you? Why not leave it behind?” the reporter asked.
ADVERTISEMENT“You’re ABC fake news, right? 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 [the jet], I want to pay you $1 billion or $400 million or whatever it is. Or I could say thank you very much … When they give you a putt, you pick it up, you walk to the next hole and you say ‘thank you very much.’”
The president clarified that the jet is a gift to the Department of Defense, and not him personally.
“It’s a gift to the Department of Defense, and you should know better because you’ve been embarrassed enough and so has your network,” Trump continued. “Your network is a disaster. ABC is a disaster.”
Trump addressed his critics in a prior social media post:
So the fact that the Defense 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.…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 12, 2025
News of the gift fueled a range of online discussion this week:
Some people actually want President Trump to say no to this beautiful FREE jet from Qatar.
pic.twitter.com/N2DNsBaO13— George (@BehizyTweets) May 12, 2025
But not all of the backlash has been coming from the left:
Rand Paul condemns Trump accepting a gifted luxury jet from Qatar pic.twitter.com/m8dNO3rlYg
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 13, 2025
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a full-throated defense of Trump’s decision to accept the aircraft.
As the Daily Mail reported:
Leavitt was questioned about the gift by Fox News reporter Brian Kilmeade Monday morning, as he asked her if there were any concerns that the Qatari government would expect any return favors from the president.
ADVERTISEMENT‘Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know that he only works with the interest of the American public in mind,’ Leavitt replied.
Leavitt confirmed that the legal process to accept the gift was still under legal review.
‘The legal details of that are still being worked out but of course any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law.’ she said.
She said the White House would continue to demonstrate the ‘utmost transparency’ in the transfer.
Here’s a clip of Trump’s remarks from the Oval Office:
Trump crushes ABC when they grill him about Qatar’s gift of a free jet:
“You’re ABC fake news, right?…You should be embarrassed asking that question. They’re giving us a free jet…It’s not a gift to me—it’s a gift to the Department of Defense. And you should know better… pic.twitter.com/xy0xHG5NYG
— Julia
(@Jules31415) May 12, 2025
What do you think?
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.
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