[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2879-S2880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 218

  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, on another matter, it really should go 
without saying, but no President should be accepting a $400 million 
gift from a foreign country. It is gross; it is reckless; it is 
corrupt; and the outrage and condemnation, especially on the Republican 
side, should be universal.
  There is no excuse or justification for this. It is wrong. That is 
the end of the story. There is no legal justification. There is no 
commonsense justification.
  Let's unpack this a little bit. Trump is planning to accept a $400 
million luxury plane from Qatar, which he just so happens to be 
visiting this week on his first foreign trip of his term.
  The stated purpose of that trip is to cut business deals, but it is 
very hard to drive a hard bargain when the people that you are 
negotiating with just gave you a $400 million gift. And it means that 
the other side will have a much easier time getting what it wants, even 
if American interests are harmed.
  A law enforcement official called the gift a ``security nightmare'' 
because it would require basically the whole thing to be busted up, 
taken apart, and reconstituted. If that all sounds blatantly corrupt 
and incredibly wasteful, it is because it is.
  I just want everyone to go through the thought experiment. Imagine if 
it were a President of the other party, imagine if this happened 25 
years ago and you were reading about something in history, do you think 
that an American President should accept a $400 million gift?
  Do you think that Air Force One--this icon, this symbol of American 
power abroad that has carried John F. Kennedy's body; where LBJ was 
sworn in; where George W. Bush was whisked away when the Twin Towers 
fell; where multiple Presidents of both parties and multiple 
generations have done extraordinary work around the world making sure 
that we are the indispensable Nation; that we are the leader of the 
free world--now sponsored by Qatar.
  I remain flabbergasted that this thing is not going to pass. I remain 
completely aghast. This is the most blatant, obvious, ridiculous, gross 
corruption that I have ever seen in my entire life by dollar amount, by 
symbolism, by violating constitutional and statutory law, and also just 
violating like--I am not a lawyer. You don't have to be all fancy pants 
to understand how ridiculous it is that a foreign government is going 
to say: Hey, we will take care of Air Force One for you.
  And so we have a simple resolution--and it is simple. I was going 
read it, but you know what, I will just summarize it. It basically 
says--and the way these things are structured, it is bunch of 
whereases: Whereas Air Force One is a symbol of the United States; 
Whereas Air Force One is one of the most recognizable symbols of the 
Office of the Presidency; and so on and so forth; therefore, be it 
resolved that we shouldn't do this, that the American President should 
not accept a $400 million gift from anybody.

  And so, as if in legislative session, notwithstanding rule XXII, I 
ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of 
S. Res. 218, submitted earlier today; that there be up to 2 hours for 
debate on the resolution and that upon the use or yielding back of that 
time, the Senate vote on the adoption of the resolution; finally, that 
if the resolution is adopted, the preamble be agreed to and the motions 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as 
usual, my Democratic colleagues are losing their minds over this 
situation, but let's just talk about the facts.
  First of all, this is not a done deal. It has not happened yet. It is 
all talk. But if reports are accurate, the Government of Qatar is 
considering gifting the United States Department of Defense an 
American-made Boeing 747--I will repeat that--an American-made Boeing 
747 plane for temporary use as Air Force One.
  It is not for the President's personal use, and he will not be using 
it after he leaves office.
  It is customary and totally normal for foreign countries to give our 
government gifts. The DOJ has already

[[Page S2880]]

said that this does not violate any law. So why are my colleagues and 
the woke media having a full-blown meltdown over this situation?
  Perhaps it is because in the past 72 hours, President Trump has 
delivered so many wins, you can't count them all.
  On Sunday, he negotiated a deal with China, dropping tariffs 50 
percent.
  On Monday, he secured the release of the last remaining hostage in 
Hamas. Edan Alexander has been through hell the past 584 days, and it 
took President Trump to bring him home.
  Today, President Trump just announced hundreds of millions of dollars 
in new investment from the Middle East and on Thursday is forcing a 
face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to end this brutal war 
in Ukraine.
  You would think the media would be celebrating all these wins, along 
with my colleagues, but as usual, the Trump derangement syndrome is 
getting in the way.
  I am convinced that the media and some of my colleagues would rather 
President Trump lose on everything and our country lose on everything 
than be successful.
  Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, we are all Americans. 
Sometimes, I think we all forget that. And we should all be able to 
celebrate anytime a President delivers a win for the American 
taxpayers.
  And by the way, we are $37 trillion in debt. If another country wants 
to give us a free plane to save the taxpayers of this country $400 
million, the only thing we should say is thank you. Democrats are 
rudderless right now. They are looking for something to hang their hat 
on. They see that President Trump has done more in 4 months than 
President Biden did in 4 years.
  So they want to make a plane gift from Qatar the next so-called 
perfect phone call. To my Democrat colleagues: Instead of wasting our 
time objecting every time President Trump breathes, maybe you should go 
get outside of DC and go connect with the American people.
  I can promise you, they don't give a rip about an airplane. They care 
about their lives and this economy and the things that have been 
destroyed for the past 4 years that President Trump is trying to put 
back together.
  For these reasons, Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Connecticut.