THE PRESIDENT'S TROJAN AIRPLANE

 

Article I § 9 of the US Constitution Provides: “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.” It is commonly called The Foreign Emoluments Clause.

The Foreign Emoluments Clause is a provision in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution that prohibits the federal government from granting titles of nobility, and restricts federal officials from receiving gifts, emoluments, offices or titles from foreign states and monarchies without the consent of the United States Congress. Also known as the Titles of Nobility Clause, it was designed to shield the U.S. federal officeholders against so-called "corrupting foreign influences". The clause is reinforced by the corresponding prohibition on state titles of nobility in Article I, Section 10, and more generally by the Republican Guarantee Clause in Article IV, Section 4.

The prohibition against officers receiving a present or emolument is essentially an antibribery rule to prevent influence by a foreign power. At the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Edmund Randolph, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, identified the Clause as a key "provision against the danger ... of the president receiving emoluments from foreign powers."

The history of public officers receiving gifts from foreign countries is as follows: Benjamin Franklin was given a golden snuffbox by the King of France and got permission to keep it from the Continental Congress. George Washington received a painting of the Bastille and a key to it from the Marquis de Lafayette and a painting of Louis XIV and apparently didn’t get permission to keep the gifts. After Washington, presidents have traditionally sought permission from Congress to keep gifts. Absent permission, the President will deposit the object with the Department of State. For example, Andrew Jackson sought permission from Congress to keep a gold medal presented by Simón Bolívar; Congress refused to grant consent, and so Jackson deposited the medal with the Department of State. Martin Van Buren and John Tyler received gifts from the Imam of Muscat, for which they received congressional authorization either to transfer them to the United States Government or to auction them with proceeds vesting to the United States Treasury. None of these gifts had tremendous monetary value.

Trump accused Biden of making money off his presidency by having gifts funneled to his son Hunter Jr. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t. Whether he did or didn’t, that’s history. What Trump is doing now is current events.

From the outset, authorities have argued that Trump’s businesses are profiting off of his foreign investments because of his presidency, and that violates the Emoluments Clause. Others have argued that since George Washington kept two paintings and a key, Trump is doing nothing wrong.

Now Trump wants to take a $400,000,000 airplane from Qatar to use as Air Force One. The current Air Force One is getting old, and they’re working on a new one, but it won’t be ready for two years. Trump wants to use the luxury airplane as Air Force One and keep it after he leaves office by putting it in the property of his Presidential Library. This would dwarf all other foreign emoluments previously approved by Congress. I could be wrong, but it appears to me that Trump is getting rich(er) off of a questionable gift from a foreign country.

What would be the mechanics of taking such a Trojan Horse, I mean gift? First, the plane would have to be taken apart to remove all clandestine electronic listening devices and spyware and then put back together. Next it would have to be fitted with all the special equipment necessary to the special mission of Air Force One. All this would be both expensive and time consuming, and it may well be that the fitting out would take years. It may not be ready until Boeing has finished building the new Air Force One. And under the terms of the gift, they’d have to build it anyway, because Trump is going to keep his palatial plane after he leaves office.

This stinks to high heaven. It may not be bribery, but it certainly looks like it. Congress should tell Trump, “No! You cannot have the airplane!” He’s not going to ask permission, but that doesn’t prevent Congress from forbidding the gift.