Critics ridiculed President Donald Trump’s first flight on a Qatari-gifted $400 million jet, calling it everything from “Air Fraud One” to a “Flying Bribery Palace.”
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The president flew to North Dakota aboard the controversial Boeing 747 on Wednesday for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The plane — gifted by Qatar’s royal family — comes loaded with marble bathrooms, gold fixtures, flat-recline leather seats, four lounges, and a grand staircase. Only 89 seats fill a fuselage built for hundreds.
Critics note that after the gift, Qatar saw a $1.9 billion U.S. arms sale cleared and received what Axios called an unprecedented security guarantee of American military protection.
“Air Fraud One,” fired back the press office for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), responding to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung’s maiden-voyage boast.
“‘Flying Bribery Palace,'” national security journalist Marcy Wheeler wrote on X.
“These people are BRAGGING about their corruption,” she added. “They’re BRAGGING that they’re stealing from taxpayers.”
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Eric Trump, the president’s son, posted that he was “honored to be on the inaugural flight.”
“Air Bribe One,” journalist S.V. Dáte replied.
“Trump is flying around in a symbol of the ways he has sold out the United States,” Wheeler wrote.
“Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary,” Donald Trump told reporters. “They spent top dollars.”
“Bribe Force One,” wrote Robbie Sherwood, communications director for the Arizona House Democratic Caucus, on X.
Donald Trump has said the jet will lead a massive flyover over Washington on July 4.
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