Qatar’s proposal to donate a high-end Boeing 747-8 jet to the United States government, for use by President Donald Trump as Air Force One, has sparked national security concerns, with critics warning it could present major surveillance threats.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Senator Ted Cruz didn’t mince words. “I’m not a fan of Qatar,” the Texas Republican said. “I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah. And that’s a real problem…we’ll see how this issue plays out, but I certainly have concerns.”
The aircraft, reportedly worth $500 million, was offered by Qatar’s ruling monarchy ahead of Trump’s planned visit to the Gulf region, which includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
President Trump has indicated he plans to make use of the aircraft for the duration of his presidency, brushing off criticism by stating that only a “stupid person” would turn down such an offer.
Ali Al-Ansari, who serves as Qatar’s Media Attaché in Washington, clarified that the transfer of the plane has yet to be finalized. Discussions are still underway between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, and legal teams on both sides are currently reviewing the proposal.
Nonetheless, lawmakers and intelligence officials are raising alarms about the potential implications of accepting the aircraft. Some are warning that it could be outfitted with covert intelligence-gathering tools or devices capable of monitoring sensitive communications, according to reporting by The Hill.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that accepting the plane would create “immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.”
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, who serves as the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, echoed those concerns, pointing out the enormous difficulty of vetting such a technologically complex aircraft for hidden security vulnerabilities.
“It is completely negligent and, as far as I’m concerned, reckless to think that Air Force One where the president is asked to function as our commander in chief in a situation room, making life-or-death decisions, is on a plane given to us by a foreign government with 200 miles of wiring in it,” Durbin said.
He added that the possibility of espionage cannot be dismissed.
“Two hundred miles of wiring in this plane? We’re going to go through every square inch of that to make certain the Qataris or some other government doesn’t have access to the most important decisions made by our president? This is irresponsible,” Durbin said.
Durbin also called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to appear before Congress and explain the legal approval process behind the gift.
“Remember, she was a paid agent of the Qatari government, a lobbyist, before she became attorney general,” he said.
{Matzav.com}