Reports of Donald Trump’s new flying palace — a luxury jet gifted by Qatar — are all over the news. A foreign government gifting a plane to the president (for him to keep after he leaves office, no less) struck many as, well, a little bit off. It’s part of a pattern of Donald Trump and his cohort gleefully trying to squeeze every profit and every penny they can get from the office of the presidency — whether it be hawking crypto while relaxing regulations on crypto, holding meetings and conducting business at Trump resorts, and so on. Some of this unseemly grift, including the possible new Qatar Force One, was made easier by the highest court in the land, which has allowed our government to operate according to the lowest standards.
Gifts from a foreign government raise obvious questions under the foreign emoluments clause. Article I, section 9 of the Constitution reads “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, 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.” A luxury jet seems like a present. It also came from a foreign state. Donald Trump holds an office (of the United States). And he didn’t get Congress’ consent to accept the jet. Pretty straightforward, no?
