Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers from U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding reports of the Trump Administration’s months-long pressure campaign to obtain a $400 million private jet as a “gift” for President Donald Trump from the Qatari royal family. 

The letter expands Ranking Member Raskin’s probe into Trump’s Qatari plane deal following his letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the White House Counsel seeking the legal memoranda justifying Trump’s unconstitutional attempt to accept the outrageously expensive foreign gift without first seeking the consent of Congress. Judiciary Democrats also filed a Resolution demanding that Trump comply with the Constitutional rules on foreign gifts by seeking Congressional consent before accepting the Qatari plane.

“For the past week, President Trump has been publicly suggesting that the Qatari royal family’s offer to provide him with a $400 million ‘flying palace’ was a generous gift, a ‘very nice gesture,’ and a ‘free, very expensive airplane.’ However, recent press reports indicate that this plane was no gift at all, but instead a coerced offering after a months-long pressure campaign that both of you were intimately involved with. Indeed, President Trump himself slipped up in his interview Bret Baier and said: ‘I made a good deal, we need a plane for a couple years.’ In any event, I write today to clarify whether this $400 million ‘gift,’ in either case a glaring Emoluments Clause violation without Congressional consent, is also the result of an illegal shakedown operation,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Reporting from multiple sources indicates that Trump tasked Ambassador Witkoff with “finding a list of viable planes” that could replace his current Air Force One planes. At Secretary Hegseth’s direction, Pentagon officials then entered into conversations with Qatar, facilitated by Ambassador Witkoff, to obtain an ultra-luxury plane. In February, the Qatari government flew the plane to the United States at an estimated cost of $1 million or more, so President Trump could inspect the plane at the Palm Beach International Airport.

Weeks before the President traveled to the Middle East where Qatari royals purportedly decided to “offer” him this plane, the Trump Administration had already contracted with Florida-based L3Harris Technologies, Inc., to overhaul the plane for use as Air Force One.

Although sources indicate that the Pentagon initially discussed purchasing or leasing the ultra-luxury plane, one source told the New York Times that Ambassador Witkoff had “always believed the transaction would be a donation.”

On Wednesday, the Defense Department confirmed that the U.S. has accepted the plane as a gift from the Qatari government, to be used as Air Force One. 

President Trump has a long history of using his office to profit from business with foreign countries, including Qatar. A 2024 report from Ranking Member Raskin and House Oversight Committee Democrats revealed that, during his first Administration, Trump received millions of dollars from the Qatari royal family, who spent lavishly at Trump-owned properties in order to curry favor with the White House. 

Ranking Member Raskin demanded Ambassador Witkoff and Secretary Hegseth each provide information on their role in obtaining the $400-million private plane for President Trump, as well as all documents and communications related to the plane and any draft agreements with the State of Qatar, L3Harris, and the Palm Beach Airport.

“The American people deserve to know whether Donald Trump is using the presidency to shake down foreign governments for his personal financial gain, violating the Constitution and his oath of office in the process. As the President’s Envoy to the Middle East and the Secretary of Defense who reportedly assisted him in pressuring the Qatari royal family over a period of months into ‘gifting’ him this coveted ‘flying palace,’ each of you owe the American people answers to the following essential questions,” concluded Ranking Member Raskin.

Click here to read the letter.