Fascinating details emerging with the Qatari royal family giving Donald Trump the personal gift of a fully blinged out 747. Yes, they’re giving him a plane.
When I first heard this story a few days ago it at least sounded like Trump had finally lost patience with Boeing because they either couldn’t or wouldn’t or wouldn’t quickly enough produce a decked-out new Air Force One to meet Trump’s wishes. The U.S. has been trying to buy a new AF1 for a number of years and it had gotten caught up between the very different demands of Trump and Biden and maybe also Boeing’s woes. I figured the Qataris were either gifting the plane to the U.S. government or selling it. In either case it would be the U.S. government’s and it’s for the use of future Presidents, too. That’s not what’s happening.
It came out that the Qataris were gifting the souped-up plane to the U.S. for Trump’s use as President and then, after his presidency, it would be given to the Trump Presidential Library. As soon as I heard this, I was pretty sure this had now become a bribe. But I figured the public idea at least was that the plane would in some way be housed at the future Trump Library. That’s not as crazy as it sounds. The ’80s-era Air Force One is literally housed at the Reagan Library. In other words, it’s just as a museum piece.
But it turns out they’re being very explicit about the bribe part. The Times just reported that because it’s owned by Trump’s presidential library it will still be his plane to fly. To quote the Times, “the plane would be donated to President Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office, allowing him to continue using it as a private citizen.” This is, to put it mildly, not how the presidential library system works. And the Times is really misleading people by suggesting that one thing in any way follows from the other.
I believe the libraries are structured as nonprofits with boards and so forth. They become little museums to the presidency and they also become the official repositories of the presidential papers. But those remain under the control and custody of the National Archives. Basically, you’ve got what is in effect a museum and then the Archives enter into some contract to store and protect the official presidential records on the grounds.
The point is that the library isn’t the ex-president’s official office. It’s not owned by the president and it doesn’t, like, book his hotel reservations. Each president also gets public funds to do just that, to have an official office, the formal entity from which he does his ex-president-ing. They’re acting like the library is his office. But it’s not. That’s a whole other thing, if that’s how Trump’s Library is going to work. But the relevant point here is that the plane remains for the personal use of Trump and his family, permanently. So that means he owns it, no matter what paperwork definition they may come up with. It’s a bribe. (Trump has literally been found to have abused a charity. So he’s got a record for this.) They’re not even trying to hide it. And the Times does everyone a bit of a disservice by not making clear that this isn’t how presidential libraries work.
