Thread: President Trump - 2nd Term

Originally Posted by 39TG

I understand a court has awarded $800 million in damages against the ABC and The View. Fxck I loathe those chicks on The View. They're as despicable as Kennedy. I recall they were pitching soft questions at Harris last year and she fxcked herself by not distancing herself enough from Sleepy Joe. Unintentionally, they helped elect Trump.

Stop watching stupid Youtube videos FFS.

US and Saudi Arabia sign $142bn arms deal on first day of Trump’s diplomatic tour

The White House is calling it the "largest defence sales agreement in history" - nearly $142bn (£107bn).

In a White House press release, the US says the arms sales cover five categories:

Air force advancement and space capabilities
Air and missile defence
Maritime and coastal security
Border security and land forces modernisation
Information and communication systems upgrades

The package also includes "extensive training and support to build the capacity of the Saudi armed forces, including enhancement of Saudi service academies and military medical services", the White House says.

The expectation that the two would sign an arms deal was widely reported ahead of the visit, and follows the resumption of US offensive weapons sales to the Saudis last year.

AI, gas turbines and planes - the other deals agreed in Saudi Arabia

The White House has released more detail about what else is included in the deals signed in Saudi Arabia:

The White House says Saudi Arabia has made a $600bn (£453bn) "commitment to invest in the United States"
There's $20bn in Saudi investment in artificial intelligence data centres around the US
A commitment from US technology firms to invest $80bn in "cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries"
US exports of gas turbines and energy solutions worth $14.2bn, as well as Boeing 737-8 passenger aircraft worth $4.8bn

Cooperation agreements between the two countries' energy and mining sectors

Live updates: US and Saudi Arabia sign $142bn arms deal on first day of Trump’s diplomatic tour - BBC News


Biggest defence deal in history?

I dunno, but it looks like a laada laada stuff

Good that the "President of Peace" is keeping Saudi Arabia armed to fight its proxy war with Iran in Yemen.

He never seems to mention that one.

Perhaps it's because of the personal contributions he gets from the Custodian of the Two Holy Cheque books.

Last I heard, Saudi Arabia wants to have good relations with Iran.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Custodian of the Two Holy Cheque books

spot on insh'cheeta

Originally Posted by Neverna

Last I heard, Saudi Arabia wants to have good relations with Iran.

I think it's more a case of they don't want bad relations with Iran having a massive Shi'a population in their Eastern province (among other things).

^^^

Talk about, “head in the sand “ syndrome.

Or as Schultz would say……… “ I know nothing “ .

The BBC reports that...


Trump's critics and supporters unite against Qatar plane deal

In his eagerness to accept a plane from Qatar, Donald Trump has achieved a remarkable feat, uniting many partisans across America's bitter political divide.

The problem for the White House is that unity is happening in opposition to it.

Predictably, Trump's opponents in the Democratic Party slammed the president after he indicated he would accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family.

More noteworthy – and potentially more troubling for the president – is that some of his strongest supporters also have serious reservations about the deal, even as it's yet to be finalised.

Maga influencers have described the move as a "bribe", grift, or an example of the high-level corruption that Trump himself has consistently promised to root out.

The Qatari royal family plans to give the luxury Boeing 747-8, estimated to be worth $400m (£300m), to the US Department of Defence to be used as part of a fleet of planes dubbed Air Force One – the president's official mode of air travel.

The current fleet includes two 747-200 jets which have been in use since 1990, along with several smaller and somewhat secretive 757s.

Trump'''s critics and supporters unite against Qatar plane deal


I am not sure what to make of this. A $400M gift is no trifle to turn down easily as a state to state gift. If it is being gifted to the DoD then I am not sure why it would be such a problem. There is the question of it being 'transferred to Trump's Presidential Libary' at the conclusion of his term. A library suggest a collection of items not in use. But such a valuable plane would presumably be in use for a long time. If it remains in the Air Force One fleet or other government use it seems OK to me.

But Qatar is a fairly shady country in terms of their political goals and security screening of such a complex piece of hardware would be challenging.

Apparently the Qataris have been trying to sell this plane since 2020. So it's probably a wrong 'un and may not have been maintained properly.

Let's hope he uses it to fly home.

Originally Posted by BLD

For gods sake how can you think a gifted plane followed by a massive arms deal and Boeing plane deal isn't corruption.

Well, I think there are 3 things to unpack here

1. Trump has used presidential diplomatic power to secure an arms deal for the benefit of US arms manufacturers
2. Trump has used presidential diplomatic power to secure an aircraft deal for Boeing
3. Trump has secured a gift of a $400m 747 for DoD

I don't see the first 2 as having any sense of being corrupt, since the beneficiaries are US companies, not Trump.

There is a question over number 3. I have done a bit of reading on Presidential Libraries. It seems that presidents now have 'libraries' of artifacts that have been accumulated over the course of their presidency. In the past these items were retained as private property after end of term. The library system demarcates these items as being specifically not the property of the retiring President. If this is the case, and the plane will definitely remain the property of the US government post-Trump, then I am a bit puzzled about the alleged 'lining up of conservative Trump allies' with their rival lefty revisionists to condemn the gift.

Never lurk a gif ho in the mouth , their may be deposits from previous riders oh Loopy

Originally Posted by Loopey

Trump has secured gift of a $400 billion 747 DOD

And the American taxpayers are supposed to pick up the $1 billion tab for refurbishing the plane?
Imbecile

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna206582

Originally Posted by beachbound

And the American taxpayers are supposed to pick up the $1 billion tab for refurbishing the plane?
Imbecile

The accusation against Trump is one of corruption, not one of poor fiscal judgement in factoring in maintenance/conversion costs.

Do you think Trump has acted in a corrupt manner by moving to accept this gift horse?

I am not really seeing the corruption angle, but then I have only a passing familiarity with the Presidential Library system.

The clip of Trump burbling about stealth fighters being ugly is plumbing new depths of ignorance, even for him.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YT_La...?feature=share

The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has been quietly getting rid of some of its biggest planes. It may have found the perfect taker for one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets in President Donald Trump, who has been frustrated with the multi-year delays in replacing Air Force One.

While many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore.

The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.

Qatar, which has given away another blinged-out 747 and may have mothballed two more, epitomizes the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalized airplanes. There aren’t many who want to buy them, and many of the governments and royal families who own them have been trying to ditch them over the past decade.

“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of the Dubai-based aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners, told Forbes. Giving the plane to Trump would be “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.”


The arid peninsula off Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, similar in size to Connecticut, boasts deep reserves of oil and gas that have made the country the fourth-wealthiest in the world by per capita GDP and enriched its rulers, the House of Thani. The family has plowed some of their wealth into an extravagant fleet of roughly a dozen Airbus and Boeing airliners converted into luxurious rides for a small number of passengers, as well as smaller business jets from Bombardier and Dassault.

That includes the 747 coveted by Trump, which was given the tail number A7-HBJ, the initials of billionaire Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who served as prime minister of Qatar from 2007 to 2013. It’s one of three 747-8s currently in the royal air fleet, which is managed by an entity called Qatar Amiri Flight. When the plane was bought in 2012, its list price was $367 million, not including the interior, which took three years to complete and likely cost tens of millions of dollars.

Unlike the passenger version of the 747-8, which can seat 467 people, the HBJ jet is a flying mansion designed for just 89 passengers, with two bedrooms, entertainment and meeting rooms, and a sumptuous beige and cream-colored interior created by the Parisian design house Cabinet Pinto that features furnishings made of sycamore and wakapou wood, silk fabrics and natural leather.

The 747, which entered service in 1970, revolutionized air travel by making long-distance air travel affordable for a mass market. But its four big engines make for high costs in an era of higher fuel prices. As of 2019, the VIP version of the 747-8 cost an eye-popping $23,000 an hour to operate, according to Corporate Jet Investor.

Over the past decade, airlines have been retiring the 747 and Airbus’ four-engine A340 in favor of more efficient twin-engine widebodies like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, as well as longer-range narrowbodies. Like Qatar, a number of royal families and governments have also been moving away from fuel-guzzling, four-engine palaces in the sky, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, the UAE and Germany.

Beyond poor fuel efficiency, large ostentatious planes are a security risk, notes Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Aerodynamic Advisory. “These things are big targets.” And bigger planes can only land on longer runways, limiting their usage. “There are a lot more airports you can get into if you have a narrowbody, and many more still if you have a traditional business jet,” he said.

The 747 the Qataris may give Trump only flew 1,069 hours in the five years before it was put on the market in 2020, according to a brochure for the plane from AMAC Aerospace, which built its interior.

One of the Qataris’ other two VIP 747-8s hasn’t been showing up on flight tracking services, indicating it may have been pulled from active service, said Bauer. In 2018, Qatar gave a similar 747-8 to Turkish President Reycep Tayyip Erdogan and offloaded an older 747-SP to an asset management firm, which appears to have put the plane in storage.

The massive, highly customized planes, with idiosyncratic interior decorating, are not easy to sell. “The market is incredibly illiquid for a jet like this,” said Aboulafia.

The poster child is a lavish 747-8 commissioned for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before his death in 2011. It was scrapped for parts in 2022 with just 42 hours of flight time.

The active Saudi royal 747 fleet is down to one, with two listed as mothballed in the last three years. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is using smaller aircraft like the Boeing 737 and 787-8.

The 747-8 is still in high demand to carry cargo given its huge internal volume. Two-thirds of the 155 that Boeing sold were configured as freighters, including the final one that left the factory in 2023. But planes like Qatar’s 747-8s are ill-suited to be converted into freighters since they were structurally and mechanically optimized for long-range flight with few passengers and custom interiors, said Bauer.

“It would require gutting the interior, reinforcing the floor, cutting a cargo door, and re-certifying structural integrity — an extremely expensive and complex process,” he said.

Giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would also allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that are only getting higher with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them, said John Goglia, a former airline mechanic and member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The 2020 sales brochure noted that the plane was due for a landing gear overhaul in 2024 and a 12-year check in 2027. A check in which the airplane and engines are taken apart, typically carried out every six to 12 years, can take months to complete and cost millions of dollars. “The numbers are staggering,” said Goglia.

By contrast, Trump, who’s incensed that Boeing is years behind schedule on a $3.9 billion contract to fit out two 747s to serve as presidential jets, on Tuesday claimed that the Qatari plane would save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform Truth Social.

Aerospace experts aren’t so sure. The plane would need to be stripped down and swept for bugs. Then, unless the administration is willing to accept the risks of lighter security, it would need to be built up to the Air Force’s requirements to serve as an airborne command center, with encrypted communications systems, shielding to protect the electronics from the effects of a nuclear blast and defenses against missiles. That’s a process that Boeing, despite all its delays, is years down the road already with the two planes it began work on in 2018 during Trump’s first term.

It would take at least five years starting again from scratch, Aboulafia estimates, unless security requirements were relaxed.

“I can't imagine any well-trained senior Air Force officer saying this is a good idea,” he said. Democrats and some Republicans are also alarmed over the ethics of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign country.

Boeing’s target for delivery of the new presidential planes, originally 2024, has slipped to 2028 or 2029, but the company recently told the Air Force it could advance completion to 2027 if requirements are relaxed. The Trump administration tasked billionaire Elon Musk with finding ways to speed up the process.

Boeing has struggled with problems with suppliers for interior components of the jet, the wiring design, and finding workers with security clearances to work on such a sensitive project.

For Qatar, a small nation with powerful neighbors like Iran and Saudi Arabia, the potential gift is another example of how it makes liberal use of its ample financial resources to cultivate allies. Qatar has spent billions of dollars to support a garrison of 10,000 U.S. troops at its Al Udeid air base, the largest American bastion in the Middle East. Qatar has also donated billions to U.S. universities and think tanks and established business ties with the Trump family. A Trump-branded golf course is in the works in Qatar, and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund has made multiple investments with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

If Trump does take the 747, the Qataris will still have plenty of other planes to get around on in the Amiri Flight stable, as well as access to Qatar Airways’ fleet of executive jets, notes business aviation consultant Brian Foley. “I don’t think they’ll miss it.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyb...tar-747-trump/

Trump must be so full of mussie cum he must be sloshing around like a camel

Originally Posted by Looper

The accusation against Trump is one of corruption, not one of poor fiscal judgement in factoring in maintenance/conversion costs.

Do you think Trump has acted in a corrupt manner by moving to accept this gift horse?

I am not really seeing the corruption angle, but then I have only a passing familiarity with the Presidential Library system.

No federal official shall accept gifts, emoluments, offices, or titles from foreign states or rulers without the consent of Congress

The “gift” (grift) which is an obvious violation of the emoluments clause, would go to the Trump library, after he leaves office. In addition to the $1 billion renovation price tag, it will also take years to refurbished the plane, well after the time he leaves office.
Fuck yes, it’s the very definition of corruption.

Originally Posted by beachbound

No federal official shall accept gifts, emoluments, offices, or titles from foreign states or rulers without the consent of Congress

That rule, as I understand it, is about accepting personal gifts. Trump accepted a gift being given to the DoD or the AF1 fleet. This gift seems to be a gift to the American public, effectively.

Originally Posted by beachbound

The “gift” (grift) which is an obvious violation of the emoluments clause, would go to the Trump library, after he leaves office.

My understanding is that a president's Presidential Library contains items gifted diplomatically during his presidency that will specifically not be owned or taken advantage of by the retired president. If that is the case then I don't see how he is getting any personal benefit from the gift in the sense that would be considered corrupt.

^ ^^ They don't call him Teflon Don for nothing!

Originally Posted by Loopey

As I understand it…
My understanding is…

Tell us more, Judge Judy. Did you get your law degree from Trump University?

If he gets past the emoluments clause, it’s still highly unethical, and wouldn’t get the green light from Congress.
So you’re OK with taxpayers picking up the tab on the $1 billion dollar refurbishing?

GOP Hardliners Block Trump‘s “Big Beautiful Bill“



That’s a shame.
I didn’t realize there were actually five sitting Republican Congressmen with a backbone.
GOP hardliners defy party leaders and Trump as they vote to block agenda | CNN Politics

You guys have it all backwards. By accepting the plane, Trump is doing Qatar a favour. Qatar doesn't want the plane so Trump takes it off their hands for them.

In return, Trump/Trump's family, will get to build a Trump golf course and Trump hotel(s) in Qatar.




The plane may or may not be refurbished. It might end up as a museum piece somewhere and never fly again.