US President Donald Trump’s proposal to accept a Qatari plane as one of the air force alternatives has sparked a long list of legal, ethical and technical questions.
No deal has been completed to accept the plane, but since the weekend Trump has been insisting that he wanted it. “They are giving us a free plane,” he said, adding that “a stupid person” only says no.
Here are the facts as they are now.
How does this Qatari aircraft look?
It is a Boeing 747 plane that has been specially built as a private plane for 13 years. It is part of a fleet of aircraft that Qatar keeps for use by its royal family. The various media described it as “a flying palace”, “super luxury” and “its composition”.
It has been widely transferred as a value of $ 400 million, but it is not clear where this number comes, and some have said less. But there is no doubt that this plane is equipped with extravagance that deserves a lot of money.
Does the United States have rules about this?
It is also, but there are fierce discussions on how to apply them and whether it applies.
The main American constitution is prevented from accepting gifts or “rewards” from foreigners, unless Congress says it is fine. (Service costumes is a batch against services.) Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said that it would be starkly unconstitutional for Trump to accept the plane. “The founding fathers knew that it was evil for members of Congress or the president accepting a gift from a foreign government.”
However, the Trump and Qatar administration does not describe it as a gift.
Qatar calls it a “loan” for the American government while Trump is the president. Prosecutor Bam Bondi said that the plane’s acceptance is legal because he will be delivered to the Trump presidential library before his term ended. By doing this, Trump can claim that it benefits the government in the short term (not he is personally), and then owned by his library yet (and not).
As it comes to the library, this happened before. The Ronald Reagan Library includes Air Force one wingWhere you can walk via the plane (on a permanent loan from the Ministry of Defense). Also, Richard Nixon Library has one marine helicopter.
However, some of Trump’s most loyal supporters urged him not to do this, at least partially because it comes from Qatar. “Take bags of good things from people who support enthusiasm, the Muslim Brotherhood, the island, all that remains, this is not America first,” said Bodkaster Bin Shapiru.
So, ethical and legal issues aside, this plane is good to go?
In short, no. If delivered, it will take more than just a job to make this operating part of the Air Force One fleet.
Military experts, laboratories, as well as politicians say that the plane should be dismantled to its component parts and verifying mistakes and other threats. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said that he “raises major espionage and monitoring problems.”
You will also need to re -equipment with safe communication systems, advanced safety features and even weapons. Cost estimates for this range from hundreds of millions to one billion dollars. Few believe it can be done quickly.
Watch | Acceptance problems “free plane”:
The nation of Qatar offered the gift of US President Donald Trump with a plane of approximately $ 400 million, saying it was fine because the plane is not directly to it. Elie Glasner of CBC breaks the problems of accepting a “free plane”.
The problem with the current air force
Technically, any plane is flying by President Air Force One, but currently there are two types of Boeing 747s serving the role exclusively. They entered service in 1990 and 1991. So they are very old.
The planes are still working clearly, and they are completely different from any commercial aircraft. According to the White House, they can refueling in the air like many military aircraft, which means that they can remain a air carried for an unlimited period of time.
On board, there are all the safe connections that the president needs, as well as a long list of other security features, including electronic anti -hydrophobic equipment and arms systems, some of which are believed to be confidential. There is a large office, a bedroom and other wings with a total of 4000 square feet. It contains a medical facility that can be used as a working room.
The US government has long admitted that the planes ultimately need to be replaced by their age.
The new are not ready
Boeing was contracted in 2018 to introduce new Air One delivery aircraft in December 2024. This never happened. Boeing blames the supply chain problems (some companies that make spare parts have been out of work), the changes made on the requirements of aircraft and the high cost to do the work. She agreed to the price of $ 3.9 billion, but he says he has already spent billions of this.
The company said earlier this year that it was trying to accelerate delivery, but government officials acknowledged that it would not happen until at least 2029, and perhaps even later. In other words, not until the term Trump has ended.
He angered this president and prompted him to search elsewhere to get an alternative sooner.
https://i.cbc.ca/1.7534363.1747180277!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/16x9_1180/usa-trump-gulf.JPG?im=Resize%3D620
Source link