Raskin: Trump has to get congressional approval for Qatar jet

Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that President Trump must get approval from Congress before he is able to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet from the Qatari government.

Raskin, in an appearance on CNN, was asked if he thought strings were attached to the gift.

“Well, undoubtedly there are,” he replied. “But it doesn’t make any difference because the Constitution forbids the president from accepting any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever.”

“The Constitution says, from a king, prince, or foreign state, without the consent of Congress,” the Maryland Democrat added. “So, he’s got to come to Congress first.” 

He pointed to the Statue of Liberty as an example. In 1877, former President Grant — on his last day in office — signed a joint-Congressional resolution to accept the gift from France.

In 1886, former President Cleveland (D) officially received the statue that would become part of New York City’s iconic landscape.

“You got to go to Congress in order to accept a gift from a foreign government, which is what this, and obviously there’s all kinds of national security implications because it is a government giving us this plane,” Raskin told host Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront.”

“There’s all kinds of foreign policy implications, so Congress has got to debate it,” he added.

Trump confirmed news reports from Sunday that his administration is planning to accept the luxury plane, worth roughly $400 million, from the Qatari royal family. He said the jet would be received by the Department of Defense. 

The plane would temporarily replace Air Force One, which is more than three decades old, and then be transferred over to Trump’s presidential library once his term ends. 

The president defended the potential gift from Qatar, telling reporters Monday it would be “stupid” to turn it down. 

“They said, ‘We would like to do something,’ and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture,” Trump said on Monday. 

Democrats and even some close allies of the president have criticized the potential delivery of the plane. 

Raskin’s latest comments echo what he wrote Sunday on social platform X.

“Trump must seek Congress’ consent to take this $300 million gift from Qatar,” he wrote.

“The Constitution is perfectly clear: no present ‘of any kind whatever’ from a foreign state without Congressional permission,” the lawmaker continued in the post. “A gift you use for four years and then deposit in your library is still a gift (and a grift).”