Donald Trump lashed out at ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott on Monday for pressing him on the $400 million “palace in the sky” that he is poised to accept from the Qatari royal family.
Asked how he would respond to concerns from the American public that the luxury jet could be seen as a personal gift, the president called Scott “fake news” and said that she “should be embarrassed” before going on a golf-related tangent about accepting a “gimme” putt.
The president’s recent anger towards ABC News, whose parent company recently paid Trump $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over a George Stephanopoulos interview, likely stems from the network being the first to report on Qatar’s proposed gift to the administration – an offer that could run afoul of the emoluments clause.
During a White House press conference to announce his executive order aimed at cutting drug prices, Trump was repeatedly asked by Scott about the administration receiving a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatari royals. The gift was initially expected to be announced this week when Trump visits Qatar during his first foreign trip of this administration.
The plane, which is expected to be used as the new Air Force One for much of the rest of Trump’s term, will then be given to the Trump presidential library near the end of the president’s time in office.
“I think that was a very nice gesture. I could be a stupid person and say we don’t want a free plane. We give free things out. We’ll take one too. It helps us out,” Trump said when first asked how the American people could be sure that Qatar won’t ask for something in return for the gift.
As he was preparing to sign his executive order, Scott once again wondered about the possibility that the jumbo jet from Qatar could be seen as a bribe, prompting the president to seethe over the implication.
“You are ABC fake news, right?!” Trump exclaimed. “Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question. They are giving us a free jet. I could say no, don’t give us, I want to pay you a billion or $400 million or whatever it is. Or I can say thank you very much.”The president went on to reference golfing legend Sam Snead, saying that “he had a motto” about how golfers should just say thank you and “pick up your ball and walk to the next hole” whenever someone “gives you a putt.”
“A lot of people are stupid and say no, I insist on putting, and they miss it and their partner gets angry at them,” he added. “Remember that. Sam Snead, when they give you a putt, you walk to the next hole and say thank you very much.”
Undeterred by the president’s insults, Scott followed up by asking whether the president had received a gift worth millions of dollars and the giftor not asking for anything in return, causing Trump to insist that he’s not the personal recipient of the plane.
“It’s not a gift to me, but a gift to the Department of Defense,” he groused. “You should know better. You have been embarrassed enough. ABC is a disaster.”
Anticipating these questions of legality, especially since the emoluments clause prohibits explicitly any American government official from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” the Justice Department and Trump’s top White House lawyer deemed it “legally permissible” as long as the donation of the aircraft is conditioned on ownership being transferred to the presidential library by the end of the term.
Of course, it wasn’t lost on critics that Attorney General Pam Bondi was once a foreign lobbyist for Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role that she held off and on starting in 2019.
It isn’t just the liberal or mainstream media that is hammering Trump over the perception that he’s accepting foreign bribes while attempting to profit from his office. The editors of The Free Press, the “anti-woke” centrist outlet, slammed the president for accepting the luxury jet from Qatar, adding that the GOP and right-wing media spent the past few years blasting the Biden family over the same concerns.
“The Hunter Biden affair really was a scandal. But these days, it seems like small potatoes,” they noted, adding: “The Qatari plane is not an exception but the rule for the second Trump administration so far. Both foreign friends and foes are now treating this as a pay-to-play presidency.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, attempted to reassure the hosts of Trump’s favorite morning talk show that there was nothing amiss with the lavish gift and nobody should be bothered by it.
“Do you worry that if they give us something like this, they want something in return?” Fox & Friends co-anchor Brian Kilmeade wondered.
“Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind,” Leavitt proclaimed.
