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President Donald Trump flew aboard the newest Air Force One on its maiden voyage Wednesday. The plane, a Boeing 747-8, was donated to the United States by the government of Qatar—a controversial gift that some allege is an attempt to buy influence with the president.
Before leaving for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, President Trump told reporters that the aircraft is “maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built.”
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The jet, valued at about $200 million, was accepted from Qatar last year. Although the U.S. government did not pay for the aircraft, the Air Force has spent hundreds of millions retrofitting it with secure communications and additional systems necessary for presidential transportation. Two other presidential planes, ordered in 2018, are still being built by Boeing.
Critics allege that accepting the Qatari jet is a clear conflict of interest, particularly since the plane is slated to be donated to Trump’s presidential library after his term ends. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the gift a “brazen bribe” and accused the president of “jeopardizing America’s national security to line his own pockets.”
The President has dismissed this criticism, telling reporters Wednesday that “the country’s very proud” of the new Air Force One.
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