The GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday blocked an effort by Democrats seeking to obstruct the Trump administration’s weapons deal with two Middle Eastern countries they assert are tied to a luxury jumbo jet from the government of Qatar, The Hill reported.
In May, Qatar’s royal family considered giving a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to President Donald Trump that he intends to use as Air Force One for the rest of his term.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., introduced his intention last month to block two separate arms deals with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates worth a combined $3.5 billion.
The Democrats have argued the deals were tied to separate business arrangements the Middle East countries had promised the president. In addition to the 747, the UAE had promised to invest $2 billion in Trump’s cryptocurrency venture.
While some Republicans have cautioned the administration on accepting such a gift due to security concerns, Democrats have called the potential arrangement little more than government corruption.
“My case is that so long as the relationship is corrupted by the gifts to Trump, we can’t move forward on these arms sales. There are legitimate underlying policy debates on the two sales, but my case here is you should look beyond the merits of the sale and really focus on the corruption,” Murphy said earlier in the week.
Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, all Democrats, as well as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont supported Murphy in his resolutions, which both failed 56-39.
Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to the U.S., said that the transfer of the aircraft has not been made official and is under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, adding that everything is being reviewed by both nations’ legal departments.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”
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