Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday warned of the possible security risks of Donald Trump accepting a free Air Force One replacement from a country with powerful ties to Hamas.
President Trump appears to be set on accepting a luxurious, $400 million “flying palace” aircraft to be his next Air Force One from Qatar, a significant, deep-pocketed funder of Mideast terrorist group Hamas.
Many critics complain that accepting such a gift is essentially a bribe and an alarming conflict of interest for Trump. Pence agrees that raises significant constitutional concerns – but he also worries about Trump’s safety and the nation’s, given Qatar’s checkered past with terrorists.
“First we’ve got to remember who Qatar is. We’ve got a military base there. I have members of our immediate family that have deployed to the region,” Pence told NBC News in an interview from his Indiana home for Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” a portion of which NBC reported on Friday.
“But Qatar has a long history of playing both sides,” Pence warned. “They support Hamas. They supported Al Qaeda. Qatar has actually financed pro-Hamas protests on American campuses across the United States,” he added.
He emphasized that accepting Qatar’s Boeing 747-8 as the next Air Force One is “inconsistent with our security, with our intelligence needs. And my hope is the president reconsiders it.”
Pence noted: “Others have observed [that] there are profound issues — the potential for intelligence gathering, the need to ensure the president of the United States is safe and secure as he travels around the world.”
Some experts have warned it could take years to completely overhaul the aircraft to meet all the security requirements of a new Air Force One, and it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.
Pence also noted that the Constitution bars public officials from accepting expensive gifts from foreign governments.
“I think it’s just a bad idea, and my hope is the president will think better of it,” he said.
