Constitution of the United States – Article I, Section 9
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Gifts
When the high officers of the United States travel abroad, of course they receive gifts. Swords, hats, chess sets; items that represent the traditions of the country they are visiting, all are part of diplomacy. But all of these gifts are NOT considered personal. They are gifts to the representative of the United States, and therefore, are property of the United States, not the individual. So when the Prime Minister of India gives the US President an exquisitely hand carved chess set, it’s not the President’s set. It is a gift to the people of the United States.
Gifts are carefully cataloged and identified. While some gifts might remain at the White House or the State Department, many are stored in the National Archives. For example, the desk now used by President Trump, the Resolute Desk, was a gift from the Queen Victoria of Great Britain to American President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is made from the timbers of the British warship, HMS Resolute. It did not “belong” to Hayes, nor any of the other Presidents that use it, now in the Oval Office. It is the property of the United States. Some Presidents chose not to use it (most recently, George HW Bush) and then it is stored for the next President.
Bribery
The reason is obvious. It would be easy to persuade an American “officer” to give favor to a particular country. We use words like “influence” or “leverage”, but Section 9 is really about bribery. A foreign state, Prince or King might try to “bribe” an American officer: by paying them (profit), gifts (presents), items or currency of high value (emolument), or granting them titles (Lord, Duke, Count, etc.). Americans have been Knighted or “raised up” by the Queen, but only those Americans who are NOT in public office: Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Jamie-Lee Curtis (for examples).
The first Trump Administration violated the Emoluments clause at will. Donald Trump owned a hotel in the “Old Post Office Building” just down the street from the White House. Many countries, notably Saudi Arabia, spent millions of dollars on rooms in the Trump Hotel, often not even occupying them. It was a way to “pass onto the President” their financial gratitude. In addition, Trump was indebted to Russia for covering large loans through the German institution, Deutsche Bank. So he was already compromised, to Russia, and to Saudi, and to other countries that realized that doing “business” with the Trumps was good for their foreign policy.
Cookies
Congress talked a lot about emoluments, but never brought impeachment charges on that particular issue. There were plenty of more pressing matters. The Supreme Court never weighed in on what, exactly, an Article I, Section 9 violation might be. And like most of Trump’s actions, if there is no pushback, he simply takes it farther. As the children’s story goes: “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll ask for a glass of milk”. That’s by Laura Joffe Numeroff, as quoted in the movie Air Force One.
Speaking of Air Force One, the Royal Family (“King, Prince”) of Qatar (“Foreign State”) wants to give one to President Trump, as a “present”. It’s a Boeing 747-8 Jumbo, nicknamed “the Flying Palace”.
And while Trump claims the “Palace” is a gift to the US Air Force, the “deal” is that the “Palace”, would be donated to the “Trump Presidential Library” at the end of his term in office (hopefully 2029). But don’t think of it like the old Air Force One parked at the Reagan Library. The flying “Palace” would be in use for the former President for the remainder of his travel life.
Get Off My Plane
So there’s the Article I, Section 9 issues. But there are also the security issues involving the President of the United States. The Air Force has already ordered two new Air Force One’s from Boeing, but they are mired in cost overruns. The problem is that the plane to transport the President has to fill so many roles. It’s a transport aircraft for hundreds of people. It’s a mobile command post, capable of running the US Defense establishment while in flight. And it’s a warplane, with detection and evasion capabilities in case of attack.
It’s not an “average” plane, not even an “average Flying Palace”. So even if the Air Force accepted the “gift” from Qatar, it would have to be revamped into the military communication and defense aircraft required for the transport of the President of the United States. Right now, there are two 747-B’s, vintage aircraft at twenty-five years, that serve as Air Force One when the President is travelling. (Though not as vintage as the B-52 bomber fleet of the US Air Force. The last one of those came off of the production line in 1962. 76 still remain in active service).
Flying Palace
So what does it say that the President of the United States wants to be in a “Flying Palace”, designed for the Royal Family of Qatar? Beyond all of the security issues, and the expenses of re-purposing the aircraft for Presidential use; what does the proposed Air Force One deal mean?
It means that Donald Trump would be indebted to Qatar, and so would the United States of America. It meets the very definition of why the Founding Fathers authored Article I, Section 9. And for Qatar, it would be the gift that kept on giving.
Next he’ll want a title to go with it.
King Donald the First of America, the Gulf of Mexico and Canada; that fits.
