President Donald Trump’s willingness to accept a $400 million ‘flying palace’ from Qatar has enraged yet another MAGA ally, with Ben Shapiro savaging the deal.
Trump has repeatedly hit out at critics of the deal, which would see him accept an opulent Boeing 747 as a gift from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One for the remainder of his presidential term.
In a stunning sign of friendship, the royal family have reportedly offered to have ownership of the plane transferred to Trump’s presidential library foundation at the end of his term.
Shapiro weighed in on the controversy on Monday, blasting the arrangement as ‘skeezy’ in a scorched earth rant against Qatar’s corruption and efforts to influence American politics.
‘Qatar is not allegedly giving President Trump a $400 million jet out of the goodness of their sweet little hearts, no matter what special envoy Steve Witkoff says,’ Shapiro said.
‘They try to stuff money in pockets in totally bipartisan fashion. Qatar will court anyone it thinks will have power. Republican or Democrat.
‘It’s an equal opportunity influencer – as long as you can help whitewash their image or smooth over the fact that they are in fact the world’s largest proponents of terrorism on an international scale.’
Shapiro pointed out that Qatar gave a $1 million donation to the Clinton Foundation for Bill Clinton’s birthday when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.
At the time, Trump was outraged and demanded she return any money accepted from places like Qatar, due to their human rights records.
Trump campaigned on a vow to ‘drain the swamp’, as well as a promise to be tough on Hamas and support Israel.
Qatar has been a key financial supporter of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, but has also assisted in key negotiations for the exchange of hostages.
‘Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest — that’s not America First,’ Shapiro said.
‘Is this good for President Trump? Is it good for his agenda? Is it good for draining the swamp and getting things done? The answer is no, it isn’t. It isn’t. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of “skeezy” stuff needs to stop.’
Shapiro warned Trump: ‘Taking jets from Qatar is not the way. Taking real estate deals from Qatar is not the way. The largest obstacle to any administration is scandal.
‘Scandal-plagued administrations have a really tough time gathering the political capital necessary to actually effectuate their agenda, and that’s why it’s unbelievably important that the Trump administration avoid scandal. That is the reason I am worried about this stuff.’
He went on to argue that if ‘we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right.’
Shapiro’s criticism comes after MAGA influencer Laura Loomer lashed out over the same deal, writing on X: ‘I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him.
‘But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.’
Fox News host and Trump ally Mark Levin also weighed in on Sunday, sharing Loomer’s post in full and writing ‘ditto’, before launching into his own criticism.
‘Qatar must stop buying our colleges and universities and spreading their anti-American, Jew-hating propaganda and funding terrorist groups and front groups.
‘Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek. It is a terror state. That is beyond dispute or their bank accounts.’
Trump initially defended the deal on Sunday night, which up until that point was not confirmed.
‘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,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said Democrats ‘insist we pay TOP DOLLAR for the plane… The Dems are World Class Losers!!!! MAGA.’
He then doubled down during a press conference on Monday morning, attacking a reporter from ABC, who broke the story, for questioning his decision, before noting: ‘I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar.
‘I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.’
Trump also blamed Boeing, arguing he would not be in want of a new presidential plane if the manufacturer had completed their contract for two new jets in time.
Boeing has fallen so behind on the $3.9 billion project that it now fears it won’t be able to finish building the planes before Trump leaves office. They were supposed to be finished last year, but a series of supplier and engineering snags has caused the project to take years and go billions over budget.
‘They said we would like to do something and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use,’ he said. ‘We give free things out, we’ll take one too.’
Trump said he would not use the plane after leaving office, but would decommission it and out it in his presidential library – similar to Ronald Reagan’s.
Speaking to Politico on the condition of anonymity, one Trump insider said: ‘Trump is able to compartmentalize the Qatar situation.
‘He looks at them and says, “They’re a very wealthy country, we’ve got a big base there, they’re investing huge amounts in America, they seem to be well connected to our enemies so if we need to talk to somebody, they’re around, they seem to like us, they treat us nicely. They give us lots of things, so on that level, all good”.’
Despite extensive backlash across both sides of the political divide, Trump’s advisors and experts maintain there are no legal challenges if he decides to accept the gift.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt railed against suggestions of impropriety, issuing a statement which said: ‘President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.
‘Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws.’
In a sign that the administration anticipated backlash over the gift, Attorney General Pam Bondi has reportedly investigated the legality of accepting it.
She determined that because the gift is not conditional it would not constitute bribery.
Similarly, it would not run afoul of Constitutional limits to foreign gifts because the plane would be handed first to the United States Air Force and eventually to the presidential library foundation – not to any one individual, sources told the ABC.
Bondi served as a foreign agent and lobbyist for the Embassy of the State of Qatar prior to returning to politics and joining Trump’s cabinet. In her role advocating Qatari interests, she earned as much as $115,0000 per month.