President Trump angrily brushed off ethical concerns about accepting a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar to be used as a new Air Force One, saying only someone “stupid” would turn down such an offer.
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Stupid? Wrong word. Maybe instead use knowledgeable in ethical parameters, knowing the job , knowing the law.
There is none of these in this equation and I am not knowledgeable enough to know who is suppose to implement the checks and balances and the accountability piece. Courts?
every year as a public employee I must complete a 'conflict of interest' training. In this training, I am informed I cannot receive a gift in access of $50 from an individual (over a year), regardless of any intent or promise of favor.
If Qatar is offering a plane that has been under their control, besides all the golden lams luxuries, what else could've been installed. After all, Qatar also has a Military tech agreement with Putin's Russia. What can go wrong? 🤣
I keep telling my wife that we really ought to help the African prince who keeps emailing me promising to share his $45,000,000 inheritance if only I share my bank details. Can't see the problem - think it would be stupid to refuse a gift like that. 🤷
Well that’s that then! Thanks for reporting what we already know, trump angrily brushing off his crimes and you guys typing headlines like it’s just another Monday in any dictatorship. Yawn, amirite?
As there is no legal way for Trump to personally take possession of the plane AND use it as AF1, the only way for the 747 to be gifted is to give it to the government. For it to be used, it would require $millions in modifications and would never be Trump’s.
😂 The “library” that doesn’t exist?? Bondi is Trump’s personal lawyer. Corrupt and unsuitable for the job of the nation’s attorney. Stating such nonsense prevents her from having to take Trump to task for breaking yet another law, and doing the actual job the nation deserves to be done.
The only thing factual and consistent is that trump IS the very “stupidity, corruption, deep state, fake news, inexperienced, self-serving, personality-disordered low-IQ bigot” of which he accuses others. This is a boomerang administration.
I remember when I was applying to be an LEO in the 80s. I was asked if I would accept a free cup of coffee while on duty. When I said, I didn’t see anything wrong with that. They immediately ended the interview and told me to leave. The reasoning was even the smallest of gifts implies an exchange.
We learned last time that he doesn't read. IDK why people thought that changed now. He doesn't even know what's in the declaration of Independence and he had a copy hung in his office. My suspicion is he needs glasses but refuses them cause they make him look weak.
How could it go wrong indeed? Nobody would ever think about giving a plane filled with mics and cameras to spy on the president of the USA. And no president is that stupid to accept right?
The New York Times continuing to normalise the most blatant corruption in US history.
I mean, if they can normalise Trump's fascism, which they happily do daily, this'll be easy.
Trumpenomics!!! Yeah, and if someone offers me a pile of money to split with them that was stolen from my workplace it would be stupid to say no. Free money!!
Well I guess that settles that eh @nytimes.com ? And here I thought a racist rapist lying insurrectionist felon previously impeached for bribery would not be investigated by journalists
Certainly someone ethical would. But we already know that Trump is an unethical conman who serves himself and not our country.
That Congressional GOP say nothing as the Felon-In-Chief takes an obvious bribe, ignores our Constitution & attacking our democracy shows how unethical THEY are.
It never ceases to amaze me how cheaply these people can be bought off. If I were President it would take at least $40 billion for me to reveal state secrets every time I flew.
Attorney General Pam Bondi “worked as a foreign lobbyist for the nation of Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role which she held in 2020 and in the run up to the World Cup in 2022.
In this role, she lobbied [the US] Congress on behalf of Qatari interests.“
And saying he’s doing it for the country is such a lie. He’s doing for himself, he said he was embarrassed of Air Force.
Don’t let him gaslight you, he will be using that plane personally when finally leaves office. It’s not going to be parked in storage while his library is built.
This is what happens inside super-corrupt states like the USA where politics lives of lobbying and huge money from donors. Democracy can't function in such a habitat.
Why do we need Qatar to give us a damn airplane? This guy is so fucking corrupt. We can buy our own plane, thank you very much. We’re plenty rich ourselves. I’m speechless about how open the pay to play is. What happened to the integrity of our nation?
Ah, yes. Because a rich man needs an unnecessary gift from a country known for its natural gas production instead of utilizing American made items…sounds like a bribe to me
I’m sure Qatar is gifting him a $400 million gift — as one does — out of the goodness of the collective hearts of the rulers of the nation, and that there is not one iota of selfish interest involved.
Why don’t you include details instead of blurting out BS you make sound unethical! Maybe try listening to your president instead of reacting ignorantly to a headline
He works within the framework of the Constitution, whether he likes it or not, and it denies him the luxuries of a king.
Somehow, he and the GOP can’t grasp this simple fact….
If they want billionaires to buy an island, and create a kingdom for the dumb king, by all means DO IT!! Leave America!!!
To the Felon, "Stupid" is a person who won't break the law to get what he wants. You are "stupid" if you follow the law when you can't get millions in as corrupt fashion. Getting the millions is all that counts. That's why soldiers. to him, who are captured or killed in war are suckers.
Wondering if he had attended more classes & did his own homework, would he have expanded his vocabulary and increased his articulateness? If he had, would that have expanded the breadth and scope of his learning? And his reasoning? To say "stupid" reveals a President with 4th grade decision skills.
Maybe you could point out that it IS LITERALLY A BRIBE and illegal. Libraries don’t “own” active jets either. Get your freaking heads on straight, NYTimes.
I’m not allowed to accept gifts over $50 for fear of conflicts as a tech professional. Shocking to see our President is held to the lowest standard possible
The US Congress, responsible to hold the President accountable, is compromised. The Senate twice rejected charges based on politics instead of considering the evidence of his misconduct. In doing so, they violated the oaths they took at the start of each proceeding.
...Or someone with ethics, a sense of impropriety, or a duty to uphold the Constitution—any one of those should’ve been enough to stop this, but here we are.
Only stupid people take an aircraft from a foreign country that could embed that aircraft with so many bugs and listening devices you can never be certain its clean.
Only stupid people take a $400M bribe from a foreign country and act like its a smart thing.
Trump’s warped mindset & blatant ignorance of the law points to him being “stupid”. Only other lawless lowlifes listen to deviant Donald’s moronic mouth.
It is outrageous to call the Qatar jet an altruistic gift: France gave the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. in 1884 to honor independence. Today, the value of that trade equates to $5.5M. For the cost of the jet, you could buy 72 Statues of Liberty, yet unlike the jet, the statue is publicly shared.
The plane has been for sale since 2018. Bet they find a mountain of things wrong with it, and it costs half a billion just to get it to speck. Fire the decorator as well.
In other news, President Trump angrily brushed off the First Amendment when he threatened to make @nytimes.com editors go through some things, and they've been bending over backwards to appease him ever since.
Corruption that is out in the open is still corruption! Corrupt intent matters. No quid pro quo needed. This is why mob boss Pump & Dump Trump speaks so obtusely about things. Others in the mob know what is meant.
NYT n Trump calls Qatar’s $400M jet a “gift”-but it’s a bribe, not a present. Dems must hammer this nonstop: it’s corruption in plain sight, a violation of the Constitution, and a direct threat to our democracy. Never let up-relentless focus is how we win. #Corruption
Taking a free plane from a foreign government while in office isn’t like taking a putt - it’s like a referee accepting a Rolex from one team’s owner before the final whistle. You can say it won’t affect your judgment. But nobody trusts the game after that.
Only someone irredeemably corrupt would accept such an offer and fail to see why it was a problem. This is an example of performative corruption, he is proud of his shameless corruption and wants to boast of it. One can safely assume this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Ethical people do it all the time. Also, as a woman we learn early in life that accepting gifts often come with strings attached. If he's never discovered that then he is the stupid one- but we all know that lol.
Mags..*maybe* write about the illegality of this and how absolutely "angry" most Americans are about this. Haberman is going beyond predictable in her NYT "reporting".
It is absolutely horrifying to me
how eager some of us are to toss
their bones and those of their loved
ones into the foundation of someone
else's Empire...but this is what we are
witnessing and it leaves me fucking
sick at heart beyond feeble words and
a hundred oceans of fucking tears.
USA Constitution: Article 1, Sec 9, Clause 8
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.
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There is none of these in this equation and I am not knowledgeable enough to know who is suppose to implement the checks and balances and the accountability piece. Courts?
Isn't POTUS a public employee?
Trump definitely is a Moron
Are @jimmykimmel.com, @latenightseth.bsky.social and @lastweektonight.com the only ones with balls enough to state the truth?
I mean, if they can normalise Trump's fascism, which they happily do daily, this'll be easy.
That Congressional GOP say nothing as the Felon-In-Chief takes an obvious bribe, ignores our Constitution & attacking our democracy shows how unethical THEY are.
I feel like this is a perfect set up for malfeasance.
Attorney General Pam Bondi “worked as a foreign lobbyist for the nation of Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role which she held in 2020 and in the run up to the World Cup in 2022.
In this role, she lobbied [the US] Congress on behalf of Qatari interests.“
They're not stupid people.
Don’t let him gaslight you, he will be using that plane personally when finally leaves office. It’s not going to be parked in storage while his library is built.
It’s a bribe.
https://mdavis19881.substack.com/p/the-absolutely-staggering-corruption
Only someone ethical would turn down such an offer.
#Corruption
Somehow, he and the GOP can’t grasp this simple fact….
If they want billionaires to buy an island, and create a kingdom for the dumb king, by all means DO IT!! Leave America!!!
I hope they gut every computer and computer controlled component from that thing and sweep it for eavesdropping devises.
I guess he probably trusts them more than our own intelligence too.
Qatar has certainly installed a remote control.
https://www.newsweek.com/new-trump-golf-course-55-billion-beachside-project-announced-qatar-2066482
That's the end result.
$400 million would build a lot of desperately needed base housing for our troops
Do you think Qatar put remote off switches on the fuel pumps of the Aircraft?
The code for the remote downing switch would be worth a trillion dollars to the highest bidder
Only stupid people take a $400M bribe from a foreign country and act like its a smart thing.
But failed
Trump is corrupt - incompetent - #UNFIT
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/qatar-bribes-trump-with-bling-blimp
'Greatest country in the world' my arse!
how eager some of us are to toss
their bones and those of their loved
ones into the foundation of someone
else's Empire...but this is what we are
witnessing and it leaves me fucking
sick at heart beyond feeble words and
a hundred oceans of fucking tears.
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.
100 years ago Germany gave a good example.
Today Trump is creating a better example.