Donald Trump annoys his Maga fans with a luxury jet

Some US media compare the supporters of President Donald Trump with cheerleaders. But the cheering calls of his fans mingled with Trump’s Katar visit on Wednesday, unusually sharp tones. There is talk of disappointment, shabby behavior, even “bribery”. With a gifted luxury pilot from Qatar, Trump herself had loyal supporters.

It all started with the self-proclaimed “investigative journalist” and Trump influencer Laura Loomer, who is said to have a great impact on the president. In a series of online posts, the 31-year-old was “very disappointed” that her role model Trump wants to use a $ 400 million luxury jet from Qatar as president flyers in the future. The acceptance of the gift from Qatar is a “stain” on Trump’s white vest, she complained in the online service X.

The podcaster Ben Shapiro became even clearer. Among other things, the Emirate of Qatar supports the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip, criticized the Jewish author and lawyer, the Trump’s Maga movement (Make America Great Again, makes America great again). “This is not America First (America first),” he said, alluding to the much -cited presidential logan. The “shabby” behavior must stop if Trump wanted to be successful.

A luxury plane worth $ 400 million is “not a gift, but bribery,” warned the journalist Batya Hungarian-Sargon from the US magazine “Newsweek”, which describes herself as a “left” Maga supporter. It turns her “the stomach that Qatar, as a state supporter of terror, has become an important player on the world stage”, she wrote on X.

It is the first time in Trump’s second term that so critical statements come from his own camp. The president himself cannot recognize misconduct: Before he left the Gulf States, he spoke of a “great gesture” Qatar and emphasized that he was “stupid” if he rejected the “free, very expensive plane”. After all, the gift saves the state a lot of money to replace the two outdated presidents from the Air Force One fleet.

The government has already ordered a replacement from the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, but Trump had recently been dissatisfied about delivery delays. In addition, the Qatarian Boeing of Type 747-8 apparently corresponds to Trump’s taste for luxury. It is a “flying palace,” reports the news channel ABC. The “Washington Post” writes, the Jumbojet offers two bedrooms and bathrooms, nine toilets as well as a private office and numerous leather seat corners.

The problem: A clause of the US constitution prohibits president of accepting such benefits. No official may “accept gifts, remuneration, offices or titles of any kind from a king, prince or foreign state without the consent of the congress”, as it says. After his first term (2017 to 2021), Trump was sued in three cases for violations of the clause, but this went into nothing.

In order to clear up the allegation of bribery, Presidential spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quickly interpreted the expensive gift from Qatar to the “Donation” to the US Department of Defense. During Trump’s visit, the White House then announced business contracts with Qatar, the extent of more than $ 240 billion, and $ 96 billion alone is up to 210 Boeing machines that want to acquire Qatar Airways. The Maga camp celebrates Trump for that. Apparently it has been forgotten that the rich golf state is suspected of having bought the 2022 World Cup.

The minority leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer: The gift of Katar was “not only bribery, but first-class foreign influence with additional legroom”.

Even in the US government, there are obviously critical voices. The catar aircraft is seen as a security risk, reports US media. If Trump really wants to use it, it must be taken apart completely beforehand and at least examined for bugs.