Optics of Qatar jet gift to Trump 'beyond awful': New York Post

The New York Post's editorial board is slamming President Trump over his acceptance of a Qatari jet to temporarily replace Air Force One, which is three decades old.

"What is President Trump thinking?" the Post wrote in an editorial published late Monday. "And the optics are beyond awful, especially as Congress mulls hundreds of billions in Medicaid cuts."

It may be acceptable, the Post said, "for Qatar to temporarily lend a plane to America for fill-in use."

The board continued, "But the plan calls for the jet to be donated later to Trump’s presidential library, arguably making him its personal owner."

Trump defended his decision to accept the plane from Qatar's royal family earlier Monday, saying he would have been "stupid" not to take the gift from the Middle Eastern country.

Qatar, the Post noted, "is famous for seeking to buy influence."

"Team Trump claims the president’s actions are all meant to benefit the nation, but given all the foreign investments and conflicts of interest — and now a $400 million plane — they seem designed to benefit the president more than anything," the board wrote.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and some allies of the president, have also been skeptical about the gift.

The Post is owned by billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who also owns The Wall Street Journal, another publication that has been sharply critical of Trump during his second term.