00:00Today, President Trump took his first flight on a brand new Air Force One,
00:04but it was the Qatari government that handed the president this $400 million jet.
00:08So was this just a generous gift or a bribe?
00:12Here's what's happening.
00:13President Trump accepted the Qatari plane last May,
00:16calling it a gift free of charge that he'd be stupid to turn down.
00:19But calling it free is a bit of a stretch.
00:22The jet is 13 years old, so before the president could fly it,
00:26it had to be gutted and rebuilt with encrypted comms and anti-missile defenses.
00:30The Air Force says that work alone cost around $400 million,
00:34equivalent to the value of the jet itself.
00:36Aviation experts told NBC News it's likely closer to a billion dollars.
00:41And that might track because the New York Times traced $934 million
00:45pulled from a nuclear missile program to help pay for it.
00:48So in the long run, this free jet may end up costing more than just buying a new one.
00:53Now, why would Qatar just give this jet away?
00:55Well, here's the sequence that critics are pointing to.
00:59Weeks before the gift, the Trump family company signed a deal to build a golf resort in Qatar,
01:04partnering with the Qatari government.
01:06Then after the gift, Trump granted Qatar a U.S. security guarantee,
01:10and a Qatari fund pledged $500 billion to U.S. investment.
01:14Qatar says that's just what allies do.
01:16And here's the part that frustrates the critics most.
01:19Even if that timeline looks bad to them, it's most likely legal.
01:22To count as bribery, a favor has to be directly promised in exchange.
01:27Nobody signed that deal, so even legal experts who dislike this agree it's allowed.
01:32Which is why the loudest pushback isn't about the law, it's about the optics.
01:36And it's not just from Democrats.
01:38Rick Scott, one of Trump's own allies, said, quote,
01:41I'm not flying on a Qatari plane, and Senator Rand Paul called it a conflict of interest,
01:46saying it wasn't worth the appearance of impropriety.
01:49So, what do you think this is?
01:51A $400 million bribe from the Qatari government,
01:54or just a good deal that Washington loves to hate?
01:56Drop your take in the comments and follow us here for more.
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