Former Vice President Mike Pence said it’s a “bad idea” for President Donald Trump to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar to use as the next Air Force One.
Pence was interviewed by NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Friday in a “Meet the Press” segment scheduled to air on Sunday. Asked about the jet ― a gift that Trump has defended amid criticisms that it appears to be a blatant bribe ― Pence said Qatar has a history of “playing both sides.”
“Well, I think first we’ve got to remember who Qatar is,” Pence told Welker. “We’ve got a military base there. I have members of our immediate family that have deployed to the region, but Qatar has a long history of playing both sides. They support Hamas. They supported al Qaeda.”
Pence said accepting an Air Force One from Qatar would be “inconsistent” with the U.S.’s security and intelligence needs.
“And my hope is the president reconsiders it,” Pence added. “I think if Qatar wants to make a gift to the United States, they ought to. They ought to take that $400 million and plow it into infrastructure on their military base.”
Asked if Trump should turn down the jet, Pence again said he should.
“The Constitution prohibits public officials from accepting a present, in the words of the Constitution, a present from a foreign state,” Pence said. “Now, they may have some basis through chain of title, through avoiding that. But, I think it’s just a bad idea. And my hope is the president will think better of it.”
Several other Republicans have also criticized Trump’s plan to take the jet, including Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the leader of the Armed Services Committee.
“It would be like the United States moving into the Qatari embassy,” Wicker told Politico earlier this week. “I’m not sure how quickly the Qatari aircraft can be retooled.”
Part of that retooling would involve checking the aircraft for possible surveillance equipment.
Trump has touted the “gift” from the foreign nation and said in a Truth Social post that Democrats who have criticized it as a bribe are “World Class Losers!!!”
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump posted. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”