History is full of ambiguities, but one thing we can now say for certain: Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida brethren failed miserably in their jihad against the United States.
Think about it: 24 years ago, the Arab street’s white-hot hatred of everything American caused them to attack us with our own Boeing jetliners — and then pour out into the streets to celebrate the mass murder.
And yet today, Boeing jetliners are back in the news, but this time as a gift from the Arab World to the American president — an American president who, by all accounts, is the most pro-Israel president in American history.
Times change. But, as bin Laden himself presciently put it, “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.” In his day, bin Laden saw the U.S. as a weak horse. Today, the Arab World knows otherwise. They now see the U.S., under Donald Trump’s leadership, as the strong horse. Just ask the once-belligerent Yemeni-based Houthis, who cried “Uncle” last week after a devastating U.S. bombing campaign aimed at stopping their years-long terrorism of international shipping lanes.
This, then, is the backdrop for a remarkable gift being offered to Trump by the tiny oil-rich Arab emirate of Qatar. As ABC News first reported:
In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar — a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News.
For this, we can credit two things: Trump’s colossal presence on the world stage and Boeing’s colossal ineptitude when it comes to meeting production deadlines. As Erick Erickson points out: “Everybody is missing the big story on the Qatari plane. The current Air Force One was commissioned in 1985, built in 1986, flew first in 1987, and was delivered in 1990. The new 747 was commissioned in 2018 and won’t be ready [until] 2029. Boeing is sclerotic and needs reform.”
No kidding. We can certainly understand President Trump’s frustration with Boeing, which can’t seem to shake the Seattle off its hide. But let’s consider the source of the gift: Qatar. Doha, its capital city, is the home to the anti-West Al Jazeera media conglomerate, which happens to be partially funded by its host nation’s petrodollars. But that’s not all. Qatar plays both sides of the Middle East fence — building relationships with Western nations and housing the U.S. Air Force as well as a forward headquarters of United States Central Command, while at the same time surreptitiously funding Jew-hatred and international terrorism.
There are other issues, of course. It doesn’t look good that a foreign nation is funding the plane that will, shortly before Trump leaves office, be used to shuttle around the American president. And then, rather than the plane being left to successive presidents, it’ll go to Trump’s presidential library. This makes it seem more like a gift to Trump rather than a gift to the American people.
But ultimately, as Ben Shapiro, a strong Trump ally, points out, there’s this: Qatar doesn’t give things away for free.
Let’s first point out that Qatar isn’t allegedly giving President Trump a $400 million jet out of the goodness of their sweet little hearts, no matter what special envoy Steve Witkoff says. Qatar tries to stuff money in pockets in a totally bipartisan fashion. Rewind a few years: While Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, Qatar gave $1 million to the Clinton Foundation for Bill Clinton’s birthday and didn’t even bother to inform the State Department, as they promised they would do.
As Shapiro adds, “Qatar will court anyone they think has power. Republican or Democrat, it’s an equal opportunity influencer.”
Beyond this, though, there’s a really important political consideration. The Democrats are crying out for an issue with which to gin up their base ahead of the 2026 midterms, and you can be certain that this “gift” would be the answer to their prayers — to the extent that Democrats actually pray.
The “high crimes and misdemeanors” in the U.S. Constitution — from Section 4 of Article II — specifically lists “Bribery” as one of its impeachable examples. And if the Democrats can successfully demagogue this issue in the legacy media between now and November 2026, they’ll retake the House and begin impeachment proceedings faster than a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet can fly.
Which is why the scare quotes on the image above are around the word “FREE,” and why the sign itself sports the colors of the Qatari flag. This isn’t a free jumbo jet, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
