Republican says Biden started controversial negotiations for backup Air Force One

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., recently claimed that widely-criticized negotiations with Qatar over a $400 million Air Force One temporary replacement gift began under the Biden administration – not after President Donald Trump took office.

“What no one is talking about is [that] this same 747 has been in negotiations for a year,” Mullin said on CNN Wednesday.

“The Biden administration is the one that started these conversations. It didn’t start underneath the Trump administration – why? Because we need a back-up for Air Force One.”

Mullin said there is no current backup plane for Air Force One, which is about 40 years old. A recent backup was retired from service due to “structural issues,” the senator said.

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“The fact is, this conversation started with Qatar with Biden a year ago,” he said.

Mullin had been privy to a recent conversation with the Qataris when the information about the Biden administration’s reported role was gleaned, according to a spokesperson.

Mullin said he would give the media “a pass” for not knowing about the reported Biden-era negotiations with the Doha government.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani dismissed the controversy in an interview with Fox News’ “Special Report,” noting that his country had originally purchased the plane from “an American company”—Boeing.

“I don’t see a point out of this [debate],” al-Thani said, adding it is a “really unfair accusation that Qatar is trying to buy influence.”

For his part, Trump has pushed back on claims of corrupt intent in potentially accepting the gift from Doha on behalf of the U.S.

He rejected allegations from Democrats like Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, who complained to the Government Accountability office that the deal is a “flying grift” and violates the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause prohibiting public officers from accepting presents or titles from royalty or foreign governments.

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“The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 

“It is a gift from a nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive.”

Trump also said it would be foolish not to acknowledge the U.S.’ cost savings in the interim.

Trump said the plane would be given to the Pentagon, not himself – while Mullin and other defenders argued there was no such kerfuffle when the U.S. accepted the Statue of Liberty as a gift from the French government in the 1870s.

In the Mullin interview, CNN host Jake Tapper said Congress had authorized that particular gift.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin also gave the U.S. a large teardrop-shaped sculpture memorializing the murdered Americans. 

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It currently sits at the Cape Liberty cruise port in New Jersey – in sight of Ground Zero – but Putin’s name was scrubbed from it by Bayonne officials after he invaded Ukraine.

Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Biden for comment.