The media and politicians on the left and right have been up in arms over reports that the Trump administration is “poised to accept a ‘palace in the sky’” from the Qatari government to replace the aging Air Force One.
President Donald Trump reportedly toured the opulent aircraft while it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport in February. And while the potential arrangement is garnering criticism from the left and right, the histrionics don’t tell the full story.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Walter Kirn, editor-at-large for County Highway, to discuss the controversial “gift” and how it is serving as a “chew toy” for legacy media as it distracts from larger issues.
The Controveresy
Citing “sources familiar with the proposed arrangement,” ABC News reported over the weekend that Qatar will give the United States “a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar – a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation.”
The tricked-out plane is estimated to be worth some $400 million, and The Wall Street Journal reported in early May that a defense contractor has already been commissioned to overhaul the aircraft to meet the security needs of a presidential jet.
According to the WSJ, Trump was so frustrated with Boeing’s failure to deliver an on-time and on-budget order for two new Air Force One planes placed during his first administration that he instead commissioned L3Harris to outfit a plane formerly used by the Qatari government.
ABC News was the first to reveal the plane would be gifted rather than purchased and said “the highly unusual – unprecedented – arrangement is sure to raise questions about whether it is legal for the Trump administration, and ultimately, the Trump presidential library foundation, to accept such a valuable gift from a foreign power.”
Under the Foreign Emoluments Clause in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution, “no person holding any office of trust shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present or emolument.” An ’emolument’ is a fee for a service. But Attorney General Pam Bondi said the gift does not violate the Constitution because it is not conditioned on an official act and it is not being given to an individual but rather to the U.S. government and then to a presidential library foundation.
Trump’s Defense
Trump confirmed the reports on Truth Social Sunday night, saying his administration was preparing to accept the aircraft “free of charge” but defending it as a “very public and transparent transaction” with the Department of Defense.
During a press conference at the White House Monday morning, the president talked about how he views the deal. “I think this was just a gesture of good faith… I thought it was a great gesture,” Trump said. “And it’s something that was done by Ronald Reagan. They actually decommissioned the plane, and he put it in his library, and it actually has made the library… more successful. So, it was good.”
He also clarified a key point when a reporter asked if he plans to use the aircraft after leaving office. “No, I don’t. No,” Trump said. “It would go directly to the library after I leave office. I wouldn’t be using it.”
“Now, that’s an important addendum that we didn’t know yesterday,” Megyn noted. “He doesn’t plan on using it for personal use after he leaves office, which does support the argument that it is a gift to America, not to Trump, per Pam Bondi’s logic.”
The commander in chief also took on critics of the arrangement. “I could say, ‘No, no, no, don’t give [it to] us. I want to pay you a billion, or $400 million, or whatever it is,'” Trump said. “Or I can say, ‘Thank you very much.'”
He then offered a golf analogy. “There was an old golfer named Sam Snead… He won 82 tournaments. He was a great golfer, and he had a motto: When they give you a putt, you say, thank you very much, you pick up your ball, and you walk to the next hole,” he recalled. “A lot of people are stupid. They say, ‘No, no, I insist on putting it.’ Then they putt it, they miss it, and their partner gets angry at them… Remember that, Sam Snead, when they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, thank you very much.”
A spokesperson for the Qatari government, meanwhile, said the deal is not complete and “remains under review by the respective legal departments.” At this point, “no decision has been made.”
The ‘Chew Toy’
The story is already dominating the headlines across corporate media and no doubt will continue to as Trump travels to the Middle East – the first international trip of his second term – this week. In the meantime, some on the right have also expressed uneasiness about the nature of the situation.
“I should say, a lot of conservative blowback against the president, even from non-Trump Derangement Syndrome people saying, ‘This is not good. We should not be taking gifts from the Qataris, who are not the best people.'” Megyn noted. “My main concern would be: Can we please make sure that there are absolutely no listening devices or other things left on board that plane? Because this is our president, our national security officials in the air. We definitely don’t trust Qatar… We cannot.”
Kirn believes this is, at least in part, Trump “trolling Boeing” for not being able to finish the replacements for the current Air Force One fleet – comprised of two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since 1990 – in a timely manner.
But he said the freakout also goes to show how little the media has learned about Trump. “Do they not yet know how Trump works? Have they not yet cracked his algorithm,” he asked. “Every few days, in case we run out of outrages, Trump does something that I call ‘throw the media a chew toy.’ This is a chew toy. It allows them to sit by the fire and fight, lick, slobber at some non-issue, which causes total distraction while he does something like end a war.”
As Kirn explained, the “chew toy” could be related to legal/Constitutional matters (i.e. the plane) or culture (i.e. the AI-generated picture of Trump as the pope). All that matters is it is “outrageous” and “sort of borderline bad taste.”
“We’ll be talking about this Qatari plane all week, I can tell you,” he concluded. “And by the end of the week, we’ll find out that the Ukraine-Russia war ended or something while we were slobbering over our chew toy.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Kirn by tuning in to episode 1,070 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.