President Donald Trump pushed back sharply at an ABC News reporter on Monday after she questioned his decision to accept a luxury gift from the Qatari royal family on behalf of the U.S. government. The gift—a Boeing 747-8 jet that Trump plans to use as Air Force One before transferring it to his presidential library after his second term—was first reported by ABC News. The reporter asked why Trump chose not to leave the jet behind amid growing criticism over the decision, prompting a pointed response from the president.
“What do you say to people who say that you got a luxury jet as a personal gift to you? Why not leave it behind?” the reporter asked. Without hesitation, Trump responded: “You’re ABC fake news, right? Only ABC, well, a few of you would. Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question. They’re giving us a free jet. I could say no, no, no. Don’t give us [the jet], I want to pay you $1 billion or $400 million or whatever it is. Or I could say thank you very much … When they give you a putt, you pick it up, you walk to the next hole and you say ‘thank you very much.’”
The president clarified that the jet is a gift to the Department of Defense, and not him personally, though the initial report also said that once Trump leaves office the plane would be donated to his presidential library, allowing him continued use of it. “It’s a gift to the Department of Defense, and you should know better because you’ve been embarrassed enough and so has your network,” Trump continued. “Your network is a disaster. ABC is a disaster.”
ABC Fake News is a complete disaster and President Trump just put another Boot in their Butt ??? pic.twitter.com/tNu6Dlo7dQ
— Beard Vet (@Beard_Vet) May 12, 2025
Trump criticized Democrats in a Sunday Truth Social post for wanting the U.S. government to fund the jet, describing the gift as a “very public and transparent transaction.” He added: “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40- year -old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”