Qatar's gift to Trump isn't just a luxury plane. It's a way to rewrite history. | Opinion
What's Trump's endgame? Take the jet, thumb his nose at the Constitution, count on the feckless and fearful Republicans in Congress to do nothing, and laugh off the Democrats who try to stop him.
To hear Donald Trump and his very generous benefactors in Qatar tell it, there is no big deal about the rulers of that Gulf State offering an American president a free $400 million luxury jumbo jet.
What's one flashy 747 between longtime friends and allies, they try to sell us.
History tells a different story.
Eight years ago, during the first year of Trump's first term, he took his first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia, where he openly embraced that country in a dispute with Qatar. Trump, after that 2017 trip, cast Qatar as a hotbed for terrorist organizations.
"The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level, and in the wake of that conference, nations came together and spoke to me about confronting Qatar over its behavior," Trump said at the White House in June 2019 after he returned from the Middle East.
Those comments came two days after Trump posted on the social media site then known as Twitter: "During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!"
Trump and Qatar now have strong motivations to rewrite that history. Qatar wants influence with Trump, who wants a fancy jumbo jet that measures up when parked next to the luxury rides enjoyed by Gulf State rulers.
Trump doesn't want us to forget all the things he said about Qatar
To hear Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister, tell it now, there's never been any friction between his country and Trump. He told CNN this during a May 14 interview: "I don't see any controversy."
That's a convenient blind spot for Al-Thani, who looked and sounded uncomfortable with the topic. He has similar perception problems with history.
“Why would we buy an influence in the United States?" he asked CNN. "If you look just in the last 10 years in the US-Qatar relationship. Qatar has been always there for the US, when it’s needed, whether it’s on the war against terror, whether it’s in the evacuation of Afghanistan, whether it’s on releasing hostages from different, different countries around the world."
Just before leaving Qatar on May 15, Trump took his own shot at recasting the history of the relationship, suggesting America has been in long-term lockstep with that country, just like with Saudi Arabia. Trump's comments, circulated by the White House media operation, did not mention his very public siding with Saudi Arabia against Qatar eight years ago.
Al-Thani told CNN his country would withdraw the gift if it is deemed illegal by Trump's government. Trump's press secretary on May 12 said those details "are still being worked out."
Trump has shown considerably less discretion here, reposting social media comments from supporters who compare the $400 million jet with Britain's 1880 gift of the Resolute Desk used by American presidents and France's 1886 gift of The Statue of Liberty.
Republicans don't worry about the Constitution or ethics
One difference here: Trump didn't try to take the Resolute Desk or the Statue of Liberty with him when he left office in January 2021. But that's exactly what he wants to do with the Qatari jet. He claims it will go to his presidential library and that he won't fly on it for personal trips.
Trump is good at making promises and bad at keeping them.
As for legality, who is going to stop Trump here?
The U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause says a president needs “the consent of Congress” to accept a gift from a foreign country. But Trump's second administration has shown little interest in following the Constitution or orders from federal judges who insist on it.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already signed off on the gift. Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on May 14 asked for her memo about the gift and the names of any Department of Justice ethics officials who reviewed it.
There's good cause for that: Bondi, before Trump picked her for AG, was on a team of lobbyists who represented Qatar in Washington on a $115,000 monthly contract. And the Department of Justice, under her leadership, has been firing career officials who focus on ethics.
Democrats on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on May 14 introduced a resolution, demanding that Trump follow the Constitution's emoluments clause. Like their colleagues in the Senate, those Democrats are in the minority and lack meaningful power in Congress to stymie Trump for now.
Some Congressional Republicans have shown discomfort with Trump's pending gift, but not enough to actually act like a co-equal branch of our government with the power to hold an executive in check.
Trump knows how to dodge accountability. He's done it before.
Trump sees all this, and I'm betting he'll use his most successful tactic: running out the clock.
Remember, Trump faced all sorts of federal and state criminal troubles while out of office, including a conviction on 34 felonies in New York. But getting reelected as president pressed pause on all that.
Trump has also run out the clock on emoluments. Maryland and the District of Columbia sued him during his first term for profiting from foreign countries spending big at a Washington hotel his private company then controlled.
As Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, noted on May 14, his nonpartisan law and policy organization agreed with Maryland and the District of Columbia on the suit about the Trump International Hotel. "That case got tied up in court, and in 2021, the Supreme Court ultimately dismissed it since Trump was no longer president," Waldman wrote.
Sounds like Trump's endgame, right?
Take the jet, thumb his nose (as always) at the Constitution, count on the feckless and fearful Republicans in Congress to do nothing, and laugh off the Democrats who try to stop him.
Sure, there will likely be lawsuits. Democrats, if they can win back one or both chambers in Congress next year, might even try to impeach him for a third time on this issue. Trump's constant thrum of emails seeking donations from supporters routinely cites the possibility of a third impeachment.
That will all take time. By then, Trump may be laughing at 30,000 feet in his "palace in the sky" about how America repeatedly let him game our system. Unless, of course, this time we don't.
Follow Paste BN columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByCrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.