Trump ready to accept $400 million 'palace in the sky' as gift from Qatar

Donald Trump is reportedly ready to accept a luxury jet described as a "palace in the sky" being offered to the US president as a gift from the Qatari royal family.

On Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was preparing to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a plane from the Qatari royal family that was estimated to cost around $400 million, the Telegraph reports.

Trump would then use the plane as the new Air Force One until shortly before the end of his second term in the Oval Office, at which point it would be transferred to his presidential library foundation no later than January 1, 2029.

The luxury gift from Qatar is expected to be announced next week during Trump's three-day Middle East tour that includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, ABC reported.

Trump toured the luxury jet in February while it was parked at West Palm Beach International Airport, ABC added.

Assuming Trump accepts the plane as planned, it will first be transferred to the US Air Force so that the military branch can configure the plane to meet the specifications required for presidential travel, ABC sources told ABC.

The network added that any costs associated with his transfer will be paid by the US Air Force, which receives a significant portion of the revenue generated by federal taxpayers.

According to ABC sources, Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, and his top White House counsel, David Warrington, have reached the preliminary conclusion that it is "legally permissible" for Trump to accept the luxury gift and then transfer it to his presidential library.

The two reportedly reached this conclusion after lawyers from the White House counsel's office, as well as the Justice Department, said the donated plane was not conditioned by any official act and therefore was not a bribe.

Those lawyers drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which reiterated that nothing about the plane violated federal laws that prohibit U.S. government officials from accepting gifts from foreign countries or their monarchs.

In fact, ABC sources said, the interpretation of the situation was that the plane was being given to the US Air Force and then to Trump's presidential library foundation, rather than to its boss himself.

But Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland said: “Trump should seek congressional approval to take this $300 million from Qatar. The Constitution is perfectly clear: no gift of any kind from a foreign country without the permission of Congress. A gift that you use for four years and then deposit in your library is still a gift (and a fraud).”

While New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman wrote that the plane in question was "perhaps the most expensive gift from a foreign government in U.S. history and is likely to raise questions from legal experts." /Telegraph