US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified granting his campaign a luxury Boeing 747 from the royal family of Qatar as a gift as he campaign for Republican candidates in Bullhead City, Arizona.
Trump was speaking after landing at an airport close to Washington at the touch of his fingertips, the aircraft that will be used as a new ‘Air Force One’. In his address to supporters, he explained that he had been informed that Qatar’s Boeing 747 was just one of the best in the world prior to reaching out to the leadership of the Emirate.
Trump says he requested he could fly the jet, but then Qatar’s emir put it up for auction before giving it to Trump.
So, when you’re given gifts you take ’em, right? Trump told the crowd. “When they give you a 747 you say two words: ‘thank you.'”
Even though it received bipartisan criticism, Trump took the plane last year even though some Republican allies objected. The move has come under criticism due to the complex ethical and security issues involved in receiving the seemingly very costly foreign gift to use for the presidency.
It was the president’s first stop on a rapid-fire campaign swing across the western United States to try to rally the GOP ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 3. The results will be interpreted to help establish who will control Congress.
Trump campaigned in Ohio on Monday, and in Alaska on Tuesday, before heading to Arizona. He was then to be next sent to a Republican stronghold in Montana, the U.S. Congress.
News crews were buzzing around the airport in Arizona in the scorching heat as fans gathered to watch the plane fly. Before making his way down the stairs of the plane, Trump stood to welcome the crowd in his well-known red baseball cap.
The jets were painted like red, white, blue and gold with the Black Mountains as a background, as Trump started his speech.
The rally included an attack on the statute, which was being defended by the president, together with his strategy of trying to persuade those Republicans who might be tempted to vote for Obama.