Just Plane Corrupt
Trump’s priorities are his company and his cash, not his country
Today we bring you another chapter in our ongoing series: Is Donald Trump the most corrupt president in American history? It’s a question that answers itself with a resounding “yes” after more disgusting evidence has come to light.
To set the stage, we need to go back three weeks. Trump’s son Eric was in the Middle East, where he signed a deal to build a Trump-branded resort and golf course in Qatar to the tune of $5.5 billion. The resort will be built by a Saudi company with the help of Qatar’s ruling family.
Now’s where this story gets real fishy. It was reported that Trump was being offered, and would accept, a $400 million jet from the Qatari royals that would replace Air Force One. The price to Trump for the plane? Nothing. Zip.
News of the Qataris’ “generosity” comes, not coincidentally, as Trump travels to the Middle East, to visit (surprise) Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The trip is not about making friends, but about making money. It should come as no surprise that the Trump Organization will be among the winners.
When Trump ran for reelection in 2024, he convinced enough working families desperate for radical change that he cared about them. But the record shows that Trump cares only about enriching himself and his family, along with his super wealthy friends. The U.S. economy and working people be damned.
To further line his pockets, Trump is now looking beyond our borders. The Trump Organization is ramping up to build 20 — yes, 20 — new hotels around the globe.
That the president’s first planned foreign tour (he made a quick trip to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis) goes through the wealthiest corner of the globe is not by accident.
Although there are myriad geopolitical issues at play in the region — the ongoing war in Gaza, the India/Pakistan conflict, Iranian aggression — reports say Trump’s focus will be on business deals. “His regional agenda is business, business and business,” one Arab official told Axios. He is looking for trillions of dollars in investments in American companies, and despite red lights flashing “conflict of Interest,” those companies will include his own.
The Trump Organization is currently negotiating projects in all three of the Arab countries he’s visiting. One Saudi deal involves a company with close ties to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who, the U.S. State Department determined, ordered the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Human rights are so far on the back burner they aren’t even on the stove for the Trump administration. The talk of the trip is this new luxury jumbo jet, described as a “palace in the sky,” complete with plush bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, and a grand staircase.
Technically, the 747-8 will be given to the U.S. Defense Department, where it will, at taxpayer expense, undergo costly communication and security upgrades so it can be used as Air Force One. Once Trump leaves office, ownership will then transfer to Trump’s presidential library fund, thus allowing him to continue using it.
Prior to news of the Qatari gift, the federal government had contracted with Boeing to build two new planes to replace the aging Air Force One fleet. Delays and cost overruns have angered Trump, to the point that he has sicced Elon Musk on the planemaker — not to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, but to pressure them to deliver the planes sooner. We the taxpayers are paying for those new planes, regardless of the largess of the Qatari royal family.
But what about the foreign emoluments clause, some of you constitutional aficionados might ask? Article 1 of the Constitution prohibits federal officeholders, including the president, from receiving gifts, payment, or items of value from a foreign state. It is designed to shield elected officials from “corrupting foreign influences.” In Trump’s case, that plane has flown.
Trump’s team was quick to dispel any ethical concerns about accepting the multimillion- dollar plane. Lawyers from the White House counsel’s office and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice determined it’s “legally permissible,” because the plane will be donated to Trump’s so far nonexistent library. FYI, Bondi spent two years lobbying for Qatar, making $115,000 a month between 2020 and 2022.
When asked about it today, Trump angrily retorted, “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person, say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was — I thought it was a great gesture.”
Jacob T. Levy, a professor of political theory at McGill University, explained in a Washington Post op-ed that funds donated to presidential libraries fall through large cracks in campaign finance rules and could have chilling repercussions.
“What is at stake is the quality of American governance. Governing according to the rule of law, general principles and impersonal procedures offers many fewer opportunities for bribes and quid pro quo favors than Trump’s preferred approach: target this law firm, exempt that preferred company from tariffs, personally decide which media company mergers to allow,” he wrote.
More to the point is this social media post from Senator Chuck Schumer: “Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom.”
Unlike during his first term, second-term Trump is uninterested in concealing conflicts of interest. This time around he is brazenly thumbing his nose at the notion of impropriety. When the Defense Department takes possession of the plane, it will be the most expensive gift ever given to the United States by a foreign power.
But all of Trump’s international shenanigans are a distraction from real issues like the economy. Trump’s tariff scheme, a problem very much of his own making, has been wreaking mayhem on the U.S. economy and global markets. They rebounded today when Trump once again backed down, announcing a 90-day Chinese tariff reduction.
As soon as Trump left town for the Middle East, the House put forward a bill that will drastically cut Medicaid, which provides health care to 1 in 5 Americans, including 40% of all children and 60% of all nursing home residents.
Odds are against passage in the Senate, where MAGA Senator Josh Hawley took issue with the bill, saying it is ethically wrong and political suicide. “Congress should be doing everything possible to aid these working families, to make their health care better and more affordable … What we should not do is eliminate their health care,” he wrote in a New York Times op-ed, sounding a lot like a Democrat.
How much is enough? Why does Trump, an almost 79-year-old billionaire, need more money? Why does the Qatari royal family, worth more than $300 billion, need more money? Especially when getting more means others will have less.
To support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, please consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all. Thank you.
No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.
Stay Steady,
Dan
Congress has to be courageous enough to investigate this violation of the Emoluments Clause. Either that or appoint a special prosecutor to look at this. It's a long shot with the current government as it is, but it has to be done.
Somehow it is impossible to believe that Trump will have a LIBRARY given his cuts to the same institutions...and an apparent lack of reading.