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It was published on May 15, 2025
The Trump administration says it accepted airplane At a value of an estimated $ 400 million from Qatar State. While Trump is a president, the White House says it will be used as the new air forces, he will go to the Trump presidential library after the end of his term.
ABC News stated that the plane will become the most expensive gift from a foreign government to an American national official. But some members of Congress say acceptance of this will be unconstitutional.
When asked about the potential gift in signing executive orders on May 12, Trump blamed Boeing’s lack of progress in building a new air force. He said he would be “stupid” to reject a free plane, and he said he would not use it after leaving his position. “It is not a gift for me, it is a gift for the Ministry of Defense,” he said.
What do experts say?
Legal experts told Politavakte that they believe that accepting the gift would violate the item of the US constitution rewards, which reads, “There is no person carrying any profit office or confidence according to them, without the approval of Congress, accepting any present, offices, office or title of any kind of any property, prince or foreign state.”
David Forte, a professor of honorary law at Cleveland State University, said the bonuses clause “to prevent foreign countries from obtaining inappropriate influence over American leaders.
Experts differed about whether accepting the plane will be a crime that can be due.
Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at North Carolina University, said that if Trump accepted the gift, it may be a reasonable work, because it will be a “completely corrupt work,” said Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at North Carolina University.
However, Forte said that the gift will not necessarily reach a bribe or a crime that can be due, but “a form of influence is a purchase to gain the recipient’s gratitude by playing with vanity.”
Is this the first time that Trump has faced such accusations?
During the first period of Trump, Democrats, individuals, and lawyers of Maryland and Washington, DC, filed lawsuits against Trump caused by the camel clause.
However, many cases were rejected on a procedural basis, and the United States Supreme Court has not ruled the constitutionality of transactions.
Frank Bowman, professor of honorary law at Missouri University, said that Trump’s potential acceptance of the plane is different.
During his first term, Trump said that the payments were conducted for his work. This time, there will be no connection with Trump companies. Bowman said it would be a free gift for free without promising to push the President or the US Treasury.
NBC News, referring to a senior official in the Ministry of Justice, said that the Prosecutor Bam Bondi approved a memorandum prepared by the agency’s legal advisor office, which was considered to be legal for the Ministry of Defense to accept the gift. Bondi previously pressed on behalf of Qatar.
Trump, for his part, thanked Qatar for the plane.
He said on May 12: “If we can get 747 as a contribution to our Ministry of Defense, within two full years, they (Boeing) build others, I think this is a very nice gesture (from Qatar).”
Can the rewards item against Trump are applied?
Legal experts said that it is unlikely that the Republican -dominated Congress will prevent Trump from accepting the gift.
Meghan Volkner, Director of Communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, DC, said that since it seems that the Ministry of Justice has signed the gift, “it could make it difficult to bear.”
Bowman said that the Ministry of Justice, according to a long -term policy, will not be tried as a sitting president.
Volkon said that Trump is benefiting again after the clock running out of the challenges of births during his first term. She said: “The enforcement of the reward item in the courts will face similar challenges (in his second term), including the challenge of finding a plaintiff with a position to appeal the violations.”
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