Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter was widely mocked after she tried to compare the Qatari royal family gifting President Donald Trump a luxury jet to France gifting the U.S. the Statue of Liberty—two events that could not be taken any more out of context if she tried.
In a Truth Social post Sunday night, Trump claimed the Pentagon would be accepting a Boeing 747-8 “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE” to serve as a temporary replacement for Air Force One. Trump’s comments come just ahead of his planned visit to Doha, Qatar—part of his first major overseas trip since taking office in January.
The statement followed reports that his administration had agreed to take a luxury aircraft from the Qatari royal family, which will be outfitted for presidential use during a potential second term, according to two individuals with knowledge of the arrangement. Trump described the handoff as occurring “in a very public and transparent transaction.”
That's a remarkably different situation than what happened with France.
France, the United States' oldest European ally, gifted the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. in 1886. The French Navy played a crucial role in aiding American forces in their victory over the British during the Revolutionary War, and the treaty that formally ended the war for independence was signed in Paris.
The president was formally authorized to accept the statue through a joint resolution of Congress on March 3, 1877. As of this writing, however, there is no indication that Congress plans to hold a vote on whether to accept the plane from Qatar.
Yet Coulter took this completely out of context when she wrote:
"I can't wait for the press to find out about France's so-called "gift" of the Statue of Liberty, accepted in 1886 by then-President Grover Cleveland."
You can see her post below.
She was swiftly criticized in response.
During his Middle East trip on Tuesday, Trump defended the controversial proposal to accept the luxury jet and questioned why should "our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done."
Trump’s comments came shortly after being honored by Saudi Arabia on the first major foreign trip of his new administration.
He has spent recent days repeatedly defending the Qatari offer, even as legal experts and longtime allies raise concerns about the propriety and potential legality of accepting such an extravagant gift—especially given the cost of retrofitting the jet with the necessary secure communications and defense systems to function as Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to fund a long-delayed Boeing project to update the current presidential aircraft, which is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
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