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Trump says planned gift of luxury plane from Qatar is a very ‘transparent’ deal

hank
edited May 11 in Off-Topic
Wow. Interesting story on many different levels. Receive a new jet for free? But who pays for fuel? This thing looks like a gas hog if I ever saw one. Wonder what the mileage (mpg) is? Does it have an indoor pool? A bar for Pete? If Qatar is able to obtain one from Boeing why can’t the U.S. government? Does Qatar have better relations with Boeing than we do? Or, perhaps the plane fails to live up to safety / security standards set by our military? And avoid EWR whatever you do.

Story in The Guardian

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Comments

  • CrashCrash
    "So much disregard for constitutional limits, and so little time..."
  • Observant1
    edited May 12
    Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert and professor at Washington University School of Law
    discusses Qatar's offer to replace Air Force One.
    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/qatar-gifting-trump-400m-luxury-jet-raises-ethical-and-legal-concerns

    To no one's surprise, the transaction is a violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause.
    If this proceeds, it would be corruption on an unprecedented scale!
    Interesting fact: Attorney General Pam Bondi previously worked as a foreign lobbyist for Qatar.
  • Sven
    One poster quoted
    The plane is a Trojan Horse...one that only Trump is STUPID ENOUGH to accept.
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=NcYwp-4e0MA
    This is a nightmare for the sake of national security. Can one imagine how many bugs that be planted throughout the aircraft ?
  • CrashCrash
    it's already been noted: the thing will have to be stripped and entirely reassembled. EL BIG-O-STOO-PEE-DOH.
  • CrashCrash
    So, if you transparently ignore due process and ship people off to foreign Concentration Camp Prisons, does the transparency make it OK? Or does it just all the more make it glaringly despicable, criminal and heinous?
  • AndyJ
    edited May 13
    Good summary from TNR of this very much non-free "gift."
  • Mona
    Of course, MAGA thinks there is such a thing as a free lunch.
  • CrashCrash
    ".....especially considering the Trump family business’s recent deal to build a luxury golf resort in the Gulf nation."

    It's totally in your face. Un-ignorable.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    @AndyJ- I had no idea that TNR was still alive... we subscribed for many years.
  • JD_co
    edited May 13
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/saudi-arabia-lures-trump-with-big-mac-on-international-trip/

    Saudi Arabia Lures Trump With Big Mac on International Trip

    On President Donald Trump’s first major international trip of his second term, he was welcomed with the sweet smell of home: greasy fries. Saudi Arabia had rolled out a custom mobile McDonald’s for his latest visit in an attempt to impress the president during his Tuesday jaunt to Riyadh.


    After the first stop on his international voyage, Trump is scheduled to visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to sign what he hopes will be more than $1 trillion in investment and trade agreements.
  • AndyJ
    Old_Joe said:

    @AndyJ- I had no idea that TNR was still alive... we subscribed for many years.

    Yep, @Old_Joe, they're still alive and kicking, and with loads of no-BS, no-sugarcoating language in their reporting on this godawful administration.
  • hank
    edited May 14
    image

    “Qatar's offer of a luxury Boeing 747 to President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells within the US intelligence and diplomatic community, where gifts from foreign powers have long been viewed with suspicion. Aside from any legal and ethical qualms about Trump accepting the plane - an 89-seater with a sumptuous French-designed interior - there are technical and security concerns too. Experts say any such gift on a foreign government's behalf presents opportunities for surveilling, tracking or compromising communications of the president and anyone traveling with him. “

    Excerpt from Bloomberg Media May 14, 2925
  • MarkMark
    "Experts say any such gift on a foreign government's behalf presents opportunities for surveilling, tracking or compromising communications of the president and anyone traveling with him. “

    No worries at all! They have Signal to take care of that.
  • AnnaAnna
    The types of security breaches that have arisen make it seem that there is an ongoing attempt to sabotage the security of the United States in a way that fear expressed by citizens might lead to an excuse for a decrease in ordinary, non-security related, transparency. I read today (GovExec) that people involved in decisions related to firing of Federal workers in the VA are being required to sign non-disclosure agreements.
    VA forces staff in workforce reduction discussions to sign non-disclosure agreements
  • JD_co
    Multiple forms of grifting, and the media is rolling with this one a bit more. The crytpo donations, those...those are fine. Some rich dude from South Africa was allowed to infiltrate US citizens ID info and chainsaw govt institutions. Signal is the preferred choice for sensitive comms.

    I mean, you can pick and choose.

    The corruption is blatant and the incompetence at the top makes it even worse. How did we get here, and how can we fix it.
  • hank
    edited May 14
    Mark said:

    "Experts say any such gift on a foreign government's behalf presents opportunities for surveilling, tracking or compromising communications of the president and anyone traveling with him. “

    No worries at all! They have Signal to take care of that.

    Right @Mark. And Ol’ Pete will be watching over everything anyway.
    JD_co said:

    How did we get here, and how can we fix it.

    There’s a belief among a great many that ”all politicians are crooked”. So a great many are inclined to look the other way. I don’t know how to fix it. Politics has become so bitterly divisive and raucous it’s becoming hard to get good people to go into it. I don’t known how to fix that. Elect a Congress with the guts to stand up to him maybe.

    An old friend who’d lived in a Michigan city with a corrupt mayor once put it this way: “We all know he’s a crook - but he’s on our side.” So they supported him.

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the three branches of government the founders designed to serve as checks on one another. That can work if two branches stand up to the errant one. But to expect just one branch (the judiciary) to override the other two branches and be an effective check is a dubious proposition.
  • JD_co
    hank said:


    But to expect just one branch (the judiciary) to override the other two branches and be an effective check is a dubious proposition.

    Impeachment is the accusation (formal charges) that then requires a trial. Removal from office requires the Senate to find a president guilty. I wonder if we could see this happen in 2027.

    I like to dream.
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