President Donald Trump accepted a $400 million Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family that he says he will use as the next Air Force One and retain for his presidential library, while not using it for travel after his presidency.
But on Monday’s AC360 on CNN, host Anderson Cooper said a source told the network that Trump fully intends to use the plane after leaving office.
Trump made waves on Sunday by accepting the massive gift from the government in Qatar, with which the Trump family has business dealings that include a proposed $5.5 billion golf club in the Gulf state. The president’s decision has drawn bipartisan criticism for obvious reasons, but Trump has responded in typical fashion by going on the attack, calling those who would reject the plane “World Class Losers.”
On his show, Cooper panned Trump and mocked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for claiming that the president “only works with the interests of the American public in mind.”
“The public will not get to keep it,” Cooper noted. “The public will not, as the press secretary suggested, benefit from this.”
He went on to say taxpayer money would be needed to bring the new Air Force One up to code, “essentially doing what Boeing is already doing” with the planes it is constructing to serve as the next Air Force One jets.
“Kind of makes it an appealing tradeoff opportunity, no?” Cooper continued, before stating a source told CNN Trump plans to use the plane when he is a private citizen. “A source familiar with the situation tells CNN that’s what it will be. He won’t park it, the source tells us. He’ll fly in it. But not to worry.”
The host then aired a clip of Trump answering a reporter’s question hours earlier.
“Do you plan to use the plane after you leave office?” she asked.
“No, I don’t,” Trump replied. “It would go directly to the library after I leave office. I wouldn’t be using it.”
“Yeah, he says that he won’t,” Cooper reacted. “Won’t – after office – fly in the gift from the country he once accused of funding terrorism. And his attorney general, who was once a lobbyist and once lobbied for Qatar, says it’s ethically fine.”
Cooper added, “It’s a lot to take on faith.”
Watch above via CNN.
