WASHINGTON, May 14. /TASS/. A $400 million Boeing 747-8 that US President Donald Trump plans to accept as a gift from the Qatari royal family would be worth 100 times more than every other gift to a US president from a foreign nation combined since 2001, Axios reported, citing data from the State Department.
According to an analysis of the data, US presidents reported $3.8 million worth of gifts from foreign countries between George W. Bush's inauguration and the start of Trump's second term, the news website said. International leaders have presented US presidents with gifts ranging from books to paintings to antiques to diamonds, and even animals.
Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain, account for some of the most lavish gifts to American leaders, Axios said. Until now, the most expensive gift has been a hand-made and specially commissioned bronze sculpture depicting two horses given to President Barak Obama from Saudi Arabia, estimated to be worth roughly $500,000.
The US Constitution prohibits members of the US government from receiving personal gifts from foreign heads of state without the consent of Congress. Congress has allowed presidents and all federal employees to keep gifts from a foreign government as long as they don't exceed $480. Presents valued over that amount may be accepted, but they must be turned over to the US National Archives.
On May 11, ABC News reported, citing sources, that the royal family of Qatar planned to present the American leader with a plane known as a "flying palace." Trump said the plane would be given to the Pentagon, not to him personally. The government, he said, would use the aircraft as Air Force One for a while.
Politico reported, citing a Qatari Embassy spokesman in Washington, that the Gulf country’s Defense Ministry had not made a final decision on giving the plane to Trump.