WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after the U.S. Department of Defense announced it has accepted a luxury commercial aircraft donated by Qatar for use as the new Air Force One for President Donald Trump while he is in office and then plans to transfer it to Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed the decision, stating:

“This is a national embarrassment that raises serious security and ethics questions.

“President Trump is outsourcing a core symbol of American sovereignty, power, and ingenuity.  He is forcing U.S. taxpayers to shell out potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish this so-called gift which will likely only be in official service for a short time.

“Refurbishing a Qatari-gifted plane with the responsibilities of Air Force One isn’t just costly - it’s a serious national security risk. Potentially exposing the President’s communications and safety to a foreign government is reckless and would create unacceptable vulnerabilities for our nation.

“Today’s announcement is not the end of the story, and I expect my colleagues to join me in exercising oversight over this outrageous move. There must be transparency and accountability about the costs of retrofitting this plane, the counterintelligence risks involved, and how it will be used once President Trump leaves office.”