A recent MAGA post read,

"Qatar has offered a $400 Million New Boeing AF1 to the US as a Gift. Dems & some Reps are objecting. Why? Qatar is just saying Thanks. If the US should Not accept this Goodwill Jester from Qatar, should we return the Statute of Liberty to France? It was a Gift also."

After pointing out that a Jester was a medieval joker or “fool” whose job it was to amuse the king and court, I went on to explain why it was unethical, impractical, dangerous, and a waste of taxpayers dollars. My reply below:

The cost of retrofitting this plane as an appropriate substitute for AF1 could run as high as $1B. That's more than twice the plane's current value. This figure is based on the need to install secure communications, electromagnetic shielding, and in-flight refueling capabilities. A private contractor would have to basically disassemble the plane before it could be fit for use. Talk about waste in government.

The emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which “explicitly prohibits any person holding public office from accepting ‘any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state." President Trump wants to have us spend all that money to retrofit this "gift" to meet standards and then transfer the plane to his Presidential Library when he leaves office in January of 2029.

Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. The Qataris fund Iranian proxies in Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, and Hezbollah. A new Air Force One, the Boeing VC-25B, is currently under construction. Like most such government projects, it is behind schedule and over budget. Perhaps DOGE could spend some time looking into this.