Back in May, the United States government accepted a Boeing 747-8 luxury jetliner, a “gift” from the Qatari government. This plane, estimated to be worth around $400 million, was set to become the new Air Force One, a project that would cost several more millions of dollars to achieve. Now, Trump pledges to protect Qatar.
In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, he accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism and said Qatar needed to end its funding and “its extremist ideology.”
Trump made a post on June 6, 2017, writing, “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!”
In another post on June 6, 2017, he wrote, “…extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”
On Sept. 29 of this year, an executive order was put out titled “Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar.”
According to Section 1 of the executive order, “… The State of Qatar has hosted United States forces, enabled critical security operations, and stood as a steadfast ally in pursuit of peace, stability, and prosperity, both in the Middle East and abroad, including as a mediator that has assisted the United States’ attempts to resolve significant regional and global conflicts. … it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack.”
Week one of Case’s Corner mentioned the correlation-causation fallacy, or questionable cause, “where occurrences happen one after the other, which doesn’t always mean the events are related.”
One does have to question, however, whether the “gift” and the subsequent executive order are related in some way. Consequently, there is a law that prevents presidents from receiving gifts from foreign powers.
According to The Foreign Emoluments Clause, a provision in the Constitution, “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Due to this clause, questions arose regarding the ethics and legality of Trump receiving this gift.
“It’s illegal,” U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said on the Senate floor. “The Founding Fathers knew it was evil to have Members of Congress or the President of the United States accepting expensive gifts from a foreign nation that, in exchange, wants favors from the U.S. Government. Donald Trump’s acceptance of the luxury plane from a foreign monarch is basically the corruption that our Founding Fathers were seeking to prevent.”
Despite the protest, the acceptance of the plane, however, was 100% legal, to many’s chagrin. ABC reported Trump said the gift would not be to him, but the Pentagon, “essentially bypassing the rules of the Constitution.” A source also reported to ABC that the plane would be decommissioned after Trump leaves office and donated to the Trump presidential library. This, however, has not been confirmed.
Now, it is being said the plane is an “unconditional donation” to the U.S. — a donation with no stipulation on what may happen to the plane once Trump’s term ends.
On May 14, in a “Fact Sheet” published by the White House, the sale of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and the GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways was part of the “historic $1.2 trillion economic commitment in Qatar.”
Despite all the deals announced in May, one question comes to mind for many: why now? Why is the Trump administration signing an executive order to protect Qatar now?
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the executive order coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Oval Office meeting with President Trump” — which appeared to be a part of a “broader effort” by Trump to make amends with Qatar after Israel’s Sept. 9 strike on Doha.
“President Trump also orchestrated an Israeli apology to Qatar, delivered by Prime Minister Netanyahu in an Oval Office phone call with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,” the CSIS wrote.
The apology allowed Qatar to re-engage as a mediator with the president enlisting the country to convey his 20-point peace plan, “the centerpiece of his meeting with Netanyahu — to Hamas leaders in Doha.”
The CSIS wrote that the announcement of Qatar’s protection was years in the making, the “timing soon after the Israeli strikes underscores the Gulf’s growing concerns over the reliability of the United States as a security guarantor.”
While the “gifting” of the plane may be questionable ethically, one cannot deny that there are other circumstances surrounding the protection of Qatar. If the president were truly only going to protect a country thanks to a gift of a plane, he would not be fit for office. This, of course, does not diminish the voices of concern surrounding the “donation” and subsequent protection announcement.
Before making a judgment, however, one needs to look past the headline and dive deeper into the story. Look past the what and consider the who, when, where, why and how. Only after considering these angles can one truly begin to understand a story.
