U.S. President Donald Trump received a large jet worth $400 million (about 600 billion won) from Qatar to serve as his new presidential aircraft. Trump praised it as a "flying White House," but critics called it a form of bribe and corruption. Concerns were raised over a conflict of interest between personal gain and public duty.
According to the Financial Times (FT) Friday, Trump unveiled the aircraft Thursday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. It will be deployed as "Air Force One" over Washington, D.C., on July 4 to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Trump said "foreign leaders fly on better planes," adding that for the U.S. president to fly a decades-old aircraft was "a little ridiculous." He expressed gratitude to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The existing Air Force One has made 223 trips to 96 countries and flown 6 million miles. The introduction of new Boeing aircraft has been delayed for years.
Democrats criticized the gift as a bribe. Some interpret Qatar's gift of the jet as related to a deal that Trump family businesses signed last year with a Qatari state-owned real estate company to develop real estate and golf resorts. Trump countered, "I'm getting it for free from a country that wants to reward us for doing a good job, so why should taxpayers pay hundreds of millions of dollars?"
Meanwhile, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Trump expressed his intention at the event to visit China again this year. This appears to refer to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Shenzhen from November 18 to 19.
If Trump's attendance at APEC is realized, he would become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Shenzhen, China's technology hub. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping already met once in Beijing on the 14th of last month. Xi is expected to visit the United States for a state visit in September and to attend the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in December. In that case, the U.S. and Chinese leaders would meet up to four times this year alone.
As Xi stressed non-intervention on the Taiwan issue during the May visit to China, U.S. arms exports to Taiwan could be delayed depending on Trump's visit to China. Trump is set to sign a $14 billion (about 21.5 trillion won) arms package for Taiwan. James Yifan Chen, a professor at Tamkang University, predicted, "If he wants an additional visit to China, arms sales are likely to be put on hold."
The early November midterm elections also influence his willingness to visit China. Inflation soared to 4.2% last month due to a surge in energy prices stemming from airstrikes on Iran. It was the highest level in three years. Trump's approval rating stands at 36%, the lowest of his second term. Chen lent weight to the possibility of the China visit, saying, "If he loses the election, the China visit becomes even more urgent," and "He needs results to prevent becoming a lame duck."
