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‘Why wouldn’t I accept a gift?’ stumped Trump asks amid Qatari jet furor

Justin M. Larson
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‘Why wouldn’t I accept a gift?’ stumped Trump asks amid Qatari jet furor


President Donald Trump apparently has no idea what could possibly be concerning about accepting a $400 million gift of an Air Force One replacement from Qatar, the bankroller of Hamas who might look for a favor in the future in return.

“Why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” the perplexed president asked Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Tuesday night of the hugely controversial offer and the president’s delight at accepting it.

Trump also complained how “small” Air Force One looked next to the state jets parked nearby during his ongoing Middle East tour.

Air Force One, where Trump sat for his interview with Hannity on the way to Saudi Arabia, looked “much smaller” and “much less impressive” compared to the other aircraft, Trump complained.

“The plane that you are on right now is almost 40 years old,” Trump groused again.

“When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, and you see [United Arab Emirates], and you see Qatar, and you see all these — they have these brand new Boeing 747s mostly,” he swooned.

“And you see ours next to it. This is like a totally different plane. It’s much smaller, it’s much less impressive … We’re the United States of America — I believe we should have the most impressive plane,” he declared.

The Qatari aircraft – so luxurious it reportedly has been called a “flying palace” – would be the most expensive gift ever given an American president. After Trump’s term ended, it would reportedly go to his presidential library – though the president insisted in a Truth Social post Tuesday that it would be given to the Department of Defense, not him.

Trump’s own Department of Justice lawyers have unsurprisingly determined it would break no laws to accept the Qatari gift.

Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres wrote to the Government Accountability Office on Sunday, blasting the deal as a “flying grift.”

He argued that it violates the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which “explicitly prohibits any person holding public office from accepting ‘any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.'”

Richard Briffault, a Columbia Law School professor who specializes in government ethics, told NPR that if the plane goes to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office, “then it’s not really a gift to the United States at all” and is a “pretty textbook case of a violation of the Emoluments Clause.”

He also pointed out the troubling problem with gifts to a president, especially such an extravagant gift is that it leaves the recipient beholden to the gift giver.

Such gifts are “designed to create good feelings for the recipient and to get some kind of reciprocity,” Briffault noted.

The kind of thing Trump “can give, of course, is public policy — weapons deals or whatever,” he added. It also becomes an ”incentive to other countries to give similar gifts as another way of influencing presidential decision-making,” said Briffault.

The bottom line is that it could take years and could cost American taxpayers “billions” of dollars to upgrade the Qatari plane to meet Air Force One specifications, including things like creating secure communications and electromagnetic shielding.



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Germany Bans Far-Right ‘King of Germany’ Group and Arrests Its Leaders

Justin M. Larson
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Members of a group calling itself the Kingdom of Germany, which was targeted in nationwide raids, reject the existence of the German state and want to set up a parallel one.



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A pregnant Cuban emigre worries about her baby’s citizenship as Supreme Court weighs a Trump order

Justin M. Larson
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WASHINGTON — Barbara, a Cuban emigre 30 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, is dealing with the additional stress of not knowing for sure that her baby girl will be an American citizen.

“It scares me a lot that my baby will be born without citizenship because she would not be a citizen of this country. Claiming Cuban citizenship is not an option because we are fleeing from that country,” she said. “I really don’t know what kind of future my baby would face. I am terrified that my baby will be born without citizenship. It would be like she would be stateless. It’s terrible.”

The 35-year-old woman lives in Kentucky, which is not among the 22 states that sued to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order that would deny citizenship to children who are born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.

Lower courts have so far blocked the executive order from taking effect anywhere in the United States. In arguments Thursday, the Supreme Court weighs the Trump administration’s request to narrow those court orders so that they cover only the parties that sued in federal court. Affected children born in Kentucky would not be citizens, if the court sides with the administration.

The woman agreed to an interview with The Associated Press on condition that her last name not be used and her face not be shown on camera.

Barbara has joined the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, one of the groups that sued over birthright citizenship. Members of the group likely would be protected under court orders.

She was a lawyer in Cuba before fleeing religious persecution in 2022 with her husband, a daughter, now 4, and her parents, Barbara said. They are seeking political asylum in the United States.

“I would not want my daughter to grow up in a society that excludes her. As a citizen, she will have a lot of rights. I don’t know exactly how many places she would not be able to access if she were not a citizen,” Barbara said.

A possible outcome of the court case is babies born to immigrant mothers at the same time in the same American hospital would have different status. One might be a U.S. citizen; the other might not.

Birthright citizenship is among several issues the administration has asked the court to deal with on an emergency basis, after lower courts acted to slow Trump’s agenda. Several of those relate to immigration. The justices are considering the administration’s pleas to end humanitarian parole for more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and strip other temporary legal protections from another 350,000 Venezuelans.

The administration also remains locked in legal battles over its efforts to swiftly deport people accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act.

If the court agrees to limit the ability of judges to issue nationwide, or universal, injunctions, the restrictions would be allowed to take effect for now in at least 27 states.

The current fight is over what rules will apply while the lawsuits proceed through the courts. But even though the high court is not expected to issue a final decision about birthright citizenship, a ruling for the administration could lead to a confusing, if temporary, patchwork of rules that might differ based on what state children are born in or whether they are members of immigrants rights groups that sued.

Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally, under long-standing rules. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the first sentence of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the Citizenship Clause reads.

Since at least 1898 and the Supreme Court case of Wong Kim Ark, the provision has been widely interpreted to make citizens of everyone born on U.S. soil except for the children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; and, until a federal law changed things in 1924, sovereign Native American tribes.

Trump and his supporters have argued that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen, which he called “a priceless and profound gift” in the executive order. Trump’s order would deny citizenship to children if neither parent is a citizen or lawful permanent resident. Those categories include people who are in the country illegally or temporarily because, the administration contends, they are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.

In the Supreme Court case, the administration spends little time defending Trump’s executive order, focusing instead on what it calls “an epidemic” of nationwide, or universal, injunctions.

“The need for this Court’s intervention has become urgent as universal injunctions have reached tsunami levels,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a court filing. Judges have issued 39 such orders against the administration so far, the Justice Department said.

At least two justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have said they believe individual judges lack the power to issue nationwide injunctions. Several others have suggested the injunctions raise questions the court might someday answer.

But New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, leading one of the lawsuits, said this is not the right case to deal with the issue because Trump is offering a “warped reading” of the 14th Amendment that is at odds with Supreme Court precedent. “I do think this is a very imperfect vehicle to have to raise the question about nationwide injunctions … because it’s very clear that the 14th Amendment applies uniformly across states if you’re born here,” Platkin said.

___

Associated Press writer Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.



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How Pandora Is Surviving Trump’s Trade War

Justin M. Larson
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How Pandora Is Surviving Trump’s Trade War

Menendez brothers admit guilt, say they’ve changed as judge resentences them

Justin M. Larson
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Menendez brothers admit guilt, say they’ve changed as judge resentences them


Almost 36 years after Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents with shotguns in a crime that captivated the nation, they appeared via video to address the Los Angeles judge who would decide whether they could ever be freed from prison.

“I killed my mom and dad,” Lyle Menendez, now 57, said at a resentencing hearing Tuesday. “I make no excuses. I take full responsibility.”

On Aug. 20, 1989, the brothers killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home. They were later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But after a day of testimony, and after they were backed by support letters from prison officers, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Tuesday resentenced the brothers to 50 years to life — a change that will make them immediately eligible for parole.

Erik Menendez, who is now 54, said: “My actions were criminal, selfish, cruel and cowardly.” 

“I have no excuse, no justification for what I did,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my crimes.” 

The brothers admitted they lied to police after the killings. “After the killings, I denied all responsibility,” Erik Menendez said. “I am sorry for these lies. There is no excuse for my behavior.”

The pair have argued that they were sexually abused by their father.

Lyle Menendez said Tuesday that, “I was in a co-dependent relationship with my little brother” over shared trauma.

He said that after the killings, he still heard his father’s voice in his head and that he kept those secrets because he thought no one would believe the alleged sex abuse.

“Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who I was,” Lyle Menendez said.

He said that he has had a personal evolution since 1996, when he and his brother were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.  

“I made a promise I would never use violence to solve a problem,” Lyle Menendez said.

If released, he said he plans to continue working with people who are incarcerated.

Jesic’s resentencing of the pair to 50 years to life in prison does not mean that they are freed yet.

Their parole will have to be approved by the state Board of Parole Hearings, which usually sets a hearing six months in advance. A decision to parole them would be up for review by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

That review process can take up to 150 days following a parole hearing, according to the governor’s website.

There is also a separate effort by the brothers to have Newsom grant them clemency, which would allow them to be released immediately, but that process is pending.

Members of the brothers’ family have sought their release from prison. Lyle Menendez on Tuesday apologized to his family members, saying, “I’m so sorry to each and every one of you.”

“I lied to you and forced you into a spotlight of public humiliation you never asked for,” he said.



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Trump’s Tariffs on Canada Spark Debate Over U.S. Trade: Does the U.S. Need Canada?

Justin M. Larson
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Trump’s Tariffs on Canada Spark Debate Over U.S. Trade: Does the U.S. Need Canada?


President Trump had one big question on his mind as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney headed to Washington last week.

“I very much want to work with him, but cannot understand one simple TRUTH,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post, reiterating several of ways he believes Canada benefits unfairly from its trade relationship with United States.

The president also repeated his incorrect claim that the United States is “subsidizing” Canada to the tune of $200 billion, alluding to the country’s trade deficit with Canada, which is the value of what the United States imports minus its exports.

In fact, the trade deficit last year was $63.3 billion, according to U.S. data. And if Canada’s energy exports were stripped out, it turns into a trade surplus.

For Mr. Trump, it all boils down to one point: does the United States need Canada?

Mr. Trump’s resounding answer is no, and he has imposed tariffs on many Canadian goods.

“We don’t need their Cars, we don’t need their Energy, we don’t need their Lumber, we don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship,” he said in the social media post.

But industry groups and government say differently.

The auto industries in Canada and the United States have become highly interconnected over the last three decades — especially between Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ontario, the busiest commercial crossing along the border — as the countries knocked down trade barriers.

So intertwined are the supply chains that car parts can cross the border as many as eight times during the manufacturing process. That has made it difficult to define what constitutes an auto import.

In 2023, the United States imported about 1.24 million vehicles from Canada, the fourth-highest tally behind Mexico, Japan and South Korea.

The United States is the world’s top oil producer, but many of its refineries rely partially on heavy crude oil, a variety that Canada specializes in extracting. Retooling U.S. refineries to eliminate the need for crude oil would cost billions and companies are not willing to make those investments, especially because of the uncertainty over Mr. Trump’s trade policies.

Sixty percent of the heavy crude oil imported to the United States in 2022 came from Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Besides oil, Canada, in 2023, supplied nearly 100 percent of the natural gas and 85 percent of the electrical energy imported by the United States, according to Canada’s energy regulator. Canadian electricity is especially important to powering New England.

Canada also more provides more than one-fourth of the uranium the United States imports to run nuclear reactors, federal data shows, a higher share than any other nation.

Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary, is investigating whether lumber imports are a threat to national security.

In 2021, the most recent year figures were available, the United States purchased $28 billion worth of lumber from Canada, representing nearly half of lumber imports.

American industry groups have estimated that the tariffs on lumber that Mr. Trump has introduced will increase home costs by an average of about $9,000.

For now, the United States lumber industry cannot meet the demand from home builders, according to a recent analysis by Fastmarkets, a research company, and it would take the country at least 10 years to whittle down its need for imported lumber.

Farmers kicking off the planting season this year were reminded of the U.S. agriculture industry’s reliance on Canadian imports of key chemical ingredients used in fertilizer, like the potassium-rich minerals called potash.

The United States imports 85 percent of its potash from Canada, which is the world’s largest exporter of the minerals.

But Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada will make potash more expensive for farmers to import and the increases could be passed down to grocery store shoppers, according to the Fertilizer Institute, a U.S. industry group. The next biggest global exporters of potash are Russia and Belarus.

The usually warm relationship between the two countries is in tatters, with Canada invoking a defensive tactic used in hockey — “elbows up” — as its posture against Mr. Trump’s economic attacks and threats to make Canada a U.S. state.

Canadians have taken to boycotting American-made products and shirking summer travel to the United States, with the number of flights scheduled to the country from Canada down by 21 percent, a New York Times analysis shows.

A quirky symbol of the countries’ special bond has also suffered. The United States has restricted Canadian access to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a historic site that straddles the border between Quebec and Vermont. American officials said the move was necessary to stop “drug traffickers and smugglers.”

Despite the frosty relations, Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump had a cordial exchange in front of news media cameras in the Oval Office last week.

Mr. Trump s described his “love” for Canada and desire for continued friendship. Still he repeated his desire for Canada to become part of the United States.

Mr. Carney quickly pushed back to make clear that his country was not for sale.

Mr. Trump did not relent: “Never say never!”



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Schumer pauses Trump DOJ nominees

Justin M. Larson
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Schumer pauses Trump DOJ nominees


Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Democratic leadership following a policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC May 6, 2025.

Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that he is putting a hold on Department of Justice political nominations in protest of President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a roughly $400 million luxury jet from Qatar.

“This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat,” Schumer said from the Senate floor, as he demanded answers from the Trump administration and Justice Department on the planned exchange of the luxury jet.

Schumer slammed the move as “so corrupt that even [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would give a double take.”

While the nominations will ultimately still likely be able to move forward as Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, Schumer’s move could slow down the process.

Schumer’s announcement comes as Trump’s plan to accept the luxury jet to use as Air Force One has drawn strong pushback from Democrats, and even some Republicans, who have raised legal and ethical questions about the move.

Schumer in his floor speech on Tuesday called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify before Congress to “explain why gifting Donald Trump a private jet does not violate the emoluments clause.”

Read more CNBC politics coverage

The Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause prohibits presidents from receiving any presents from “any King, Prince, or foreign State,” without congressional approval.

“Until the Attorney General explains her blatantly inept decision, and we get complete and comprehensive answers to these and other questions, I will place a hold on all political nominees to the Department of Justice,” Schumer announced.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told CNBC on Tuesday that “the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.”

Conservative podcaster and commentator Ben Shapiro also criticized the move.

“If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop,” Shapiro said on a podcast episode that aired Monday.

Trump said Monday that Qatar made a “very nice gesture” in offering the 747 jet to act as Air Force One.

“I think what happened with the plane is that we’re very disappointed that it’s taken Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO



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Kate Middleton Presents 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design

Justin M. Larson
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Kate Middleton Presents 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design

Trump continues to defend Qatar gifting US ‘impressive’ $400M Boeing 747 jet

Justin M. Larson
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Trump continues to defend Qatar gifting US ‘impressive’ $400M Boeing 747 jet


President Donald Trump continued to defend his decision to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar during an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity on Air Force One on Tuesday.

Trump has received backlash for planning to accept the jumbo Boeing 747-8 jet from the Qatari royal family since news of the gift broke on Sunday.

“Now, some people say, ‘oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept the gift? We’re giving to everybody else? Why wouldn’t I accept the gift?” the president said to Hannity.

TRUMP DEFENDS QATAR JUMBO JET OFFER AS TROUBLED BOEING FAILS TO DELIVER NEW AIR FORCE ONE FLEET 

President Donald Trump sits in a chair at a desk aboard Air Force One.

President Donald Trump continued to defend his decision to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to temporarily use as Air Force One on Tuesday during an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity. (Fox News)

The luxury jet, which was offered to the United States because of delays in Boeing’s production of the new Air Force One fleet, will serve as a temporary method of transportation so that the current presidential plane doesn’t have to be flown. 

Trump has said AF1 is nearly 40 years old and looks “much less impressive” when compared to the planes in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

“You know, we’re the United States of America. I believe that we should have the most impressive plane,” Trump told Hannity.

TRUMP CLARIFIES OWNERSHIP OF AIRCRAFT IN DEFENSE OF QATAR’S GIFT 

In addition to Boeing running behind on delivering the new fleet, the jumbo jet is a gift to the Department of Defense for “a job well done” in successfully defending Qatar “for many years,” Trump added on Truth Social a few hours after the interview.

“Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,” he wrote.

Trump has said the plane will be retired to the presidential library once Boeing delivers its new AF1 fleet.

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The president will be in Qatar on Wednesday for the next stop of his three-day visit to the Middle East, marking his first major international trip of his second term. 

resident Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One

President Donald Trump walks out of Air Force One to a purple carpet at King Khalid International Airport Royal Terminal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

He spent Tuesday in Saudi Arabia meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.



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In Augustinian Order, Pope Leo XIV Found Unity, Charity and ‘Eternal Friendship’

Justin M. Larson
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The Order of St. Augustine, with fewer than 3,000 members, shaped the man who would become a cardinal, and then pope to the world’s Roman Catholics.



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