US President Donald Trump said that the leadership of Qatar is offended by the reaction of American officials to the possibility of transferring the presidential plane to the States.
"They give it to the US Air Force, the Pentagon. Not for me. I made a good deal. Boeing is sadly late. The current aircraft is 42 years old. It will be owned by the US government. It will be written off later when we have two new planes," Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
The Emir of Qatar was offended by such a reaction in the United States to the possibility of transferring the plane, Trump said.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said that the Qatari authorities had offered to transfer the Boeing 747-8 aircraft to the Pentagon, but the issue was still at the stage of legal approval. Trump himself said that it would be foolish to refuse Qatar's offer to transfer the plane to the American leader.
Boeing 747-8, which is estimated at $ 400 million, will be a record-breaking expensive gift to the American president. The previous American leader Joe Biden received $250,000 worth of gifts during his time in office.
According to US media, the Boeing 747-8 arrived in Texas more than a month ago. Former and current American officials claimed that it would take years of work and billions of dollars to re-equip the aircraft to meet the safety requirements of the presidential side.