Pentagon says that Boeing Jet of Qatar has accepted that will be used for Trump

Washington – The Defense Department said Wednesday that he has accepted a Boeing plane From Qatar that will be modernized and used to transport President Trump.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the Boeing 747 “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.”

“The Department of Defense will work to guarantee adequate security measures and functional mission requirements are considered for an airplane used to transport the president of the United States,” said Parnell.

The New York Times reported for the first time that the Pentagon had accepted the Qatar government plane.

“As indicated by the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force is preparing to award a contract to modify a Boeing 747 plane for the Executive Air Bridge. The details related to the contract are classified,” said a spokesman for the Air Force in a statement.

Hegseth’s acceptance of the plane occurs days after the fountains Confirmed to News themezone that Qatar’s royal family would be donating airplanes for the use of Mr. Trump. The gift was first reported by ABC News. Valued at $ 400 million, Jumbo Jet will be donated to the future Trump presidential library just before he leaves the position.

Trump told journalists last week that the Qataris are “giving us a gift” and lamented that the current plane used for Air Force One has almost four decades. When the president is aboard either of the two Boeing planes that are part of the presidential air transport fleet, his call signal is “Air Force One”, according to the Air Force.

“If we can obtain a 747 as a contribution to our defense department to use for a couple of years while building the others, I think it was a very pleasant gesture,” Trump said. “Now it could be a stupid person and say, oh no, we don’t want a free plane.”

The president has continued to defend the notion of receiving the Qatar plane, writing on the social networks that the Boeing plane is taking place to the Department of Defense, and is a gift that will be used as a “temporary air force” until new Boeing planes arrive.

“Why does our military, and therefore, our taxpayers, are forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars when they can get it for free from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This great savings will be spent, on the other hand, so that the United States will be great again? Only a fool would not accept this gift in the name of our country,” he wrote last week.

The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also reiterated on Monday that the plane is a donation to the Nation and the Air Force.

“The Qatar government, the Qatar family, has offered to donate this plane to the United States Air Force, where this donation will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations,” he said. “The United States Department of Defense and Air Force and the United States Air Force will adapt to the highest standards of the Department of Defense. This plane is not a personal donation or a gift to the president of the United States.”

Even so, the news of the gift raised concerns between the members of the Congress and the questions about whether the transaction complied with the rules of federal ethics.

Democratic representative Ritchie Torres of New York sent a letter last week to three vigatory dogs of the internal government who asked them to carry out an ethical review of the gift and issue an advisory opinion on whether it violates the federal ethics regulations and the Emoluments of the Constitution clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts of foreign nations.

“The American presidency is not a personal inheritance. It does not exist to enrich Donald Trump,” he wrote. “It belongs to ‘We people’. If we do not make the line here, soon there may be no line to draw.”

Some Republicans also have Expressed concern With the Government of Qatar. The leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, said “many problems associated with that offer”, which he should be discussed more thoroughly.

Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri said that while he understands the need for a new Air Force One, “I would love to have a large and beautiful plane built in the United States of America.” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina warned that “everyone needs to know that Air Force One is not like any other boeing.”

“It will have to be put to the proof of many steps and probably each square inch analyzed before thinking that the president should consider it as a main means of transport,” he said.

The secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink, who was only confirmed last week, told Congress on Tuesday that the Air Force had already begun to investigate what modifications would be required to modernize the plane.

“The Secretary of Defense has ordered the Air Force that basically begins to plan to modify the plane. We are positioned to do so,” Meink told Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth from Illinois, who asked about the possible security concerns of said transfer.

Meink said that converting any civil plane to Air Force One standards “will take significant modifications.”

In:
• Pentagon
• Qatar
• Boeing
• Donald Trump

Kaia Hubbard, Cristina Coujo and Alan him contributed to this report.