Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Boeing had secured a record-breaking $96bn deal to sell Qatar up to 210 Boeing jets, an agreement that comes as the president portrays the Gulf state’s controversial offer to gift him a $400m luxury aircraft as an opportunity too valuable to refuse.
The Qatar Airways purchase of the Boeing jets – described as the largest order in the company’s history – formed the centerpiece of economic agreements valued at more than $243bn signed during Trump’s visit to Doha. The White House claims the aviation agreement alone will support 154,000 American jobs annually, though it was unclear how those figures were calculated.
Trump also secured a statement of intent for more than $38bn in future defense investments from Qatar, further intertwining America’s economic and security relationships with the Gulf state now offering him a luxury aircraft.
Ahead of the deal, Trump dismissed mounting ethical concerns about accepting Qatar’s separate offer of a “palace in the sky” Boeing 747-8 jetliner – complaining that the current presidential aircraft simply doesn’t match up to those of Gulf monarchies.
“The plane that you’re on is almost 40 years old,” Trump told the Fox News host Sean Hannity during an Air Force One interview on the Middle East trip, where he is also visiting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, you see UAE and you see Qatar, and they have these brand-new Boeing 747s, mostly. You see ours next to it – this is like a totally different plane.”
Clearly irritated by questions about the ethical criticism of accepting such a lavish gift as president, Trump insisted American prestige was at stake. “We’re the United States of America. I believe we should have the most impressive plane.”
The timing of Trump’s visit has raised eyebrows, coming just weeks after the Trump Organization secured a deal with Qatar for a luxury resort and golf course development outside the capital, Doha, called Trump International Golf Club & Villas.
“My attitude is why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” Trump continued. “We’re giving to everybody else, why wouldn’t I accept a gift? Because it’s going to be a couple years until the Boeings are finished.”
Trump was referring to the incoming Air Force One fleet, a $3.9bn contract given to Boeing in 2018 with an original timetable of 2024 that has since been delayed by a number of years.
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, who worked as a lobbyist for Qatar while at her previous employer Ballard Partners, has declared accepting the aircraft “legally permissible”.
Trump’s much-touted trade deals, coming as Qatar dangles what Democratic representative Ritchie Torres described as a “flying grift”, has triggered alarm across the political spectrum. Torres has argued that the winged present violates the constitution’s emoluments clause, which explicitly prohibits federal officials from accepting valuable gifts from foreign powers without congressional approval.
Even staunch Trump allies have broken ranks, including the Texas senator Ted Cruz, who warned that the aircraft deal “poses significant espionage and surveillance problems”, while the West Virginia senator Shelley Moore Capito said bluntly she would “be checking for bugs”.
Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who ran in the Republican primaries for president, called the acceptance of foreign gifts “never a good practice” that “threatens intelligence and national security”.
Trump has attempted to sidestep these concerns by claiming the jet would technically be donated to the Department of Defense before eventually transferring to his presidential library foundation after his term ends – suggestions that have done little to quell concerns about conflicts of interest.
Aviation experts have also poured cold water on Trump’s claims of taxpayer savings, telling NBC News that converting the 13-year-old commercial jet into a functional Air Force One would cost well over $1bn, and potentially only be completed post-presidency. The process would require dismantling the aircraft to search for surveillance devices before installing sophisticated security and communications systems.
The actual Air Force One, while older, acts as a mobile version of the White House, and has anti-missile defense systems, hardened and encrypted communications, secure compartments for senior leadership, and the ability to refuel midair.
Trump’s Gulf tour began with a speech at the Saudi US Investment Forum 2025, where he praised the region’s leaders. He said the region was “transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past” and that “this great transformation has not come from western interventionists or flying people in beautiful planes giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs”
Qatar has long been on its way to being accepted into the American list of preferred partners.
In February 2022, the Biden administration designated Qatar the latest “major non-Nato ally”, a coveted relationship with military, intelligence and financial advantages. – The Guardian UK.
