Qatar just gave Donald Trump a $400 million plane. Uh, what? 💸 Chris CIllizza

[ihaveaquestion]

[House of Roberts]

1. Suppose for a minute,

that Boeing has a stock 747 ready to fly, sitting on the tarmac. How long does it take the high security clearanced technicians who install all the special gear needed for the US President to use it as Air Force One?
It wouldn't surprise me if Trump would be out of office or dead before the plane would be ready to serve.

[lapfog_1]

2. one to two years

then another ( possibly less ) time to remove everything when Trump leaves office and the plane goes with him

They would need to take the plane completely apart to look for anything that might have been added, then re-assemble it and add all of the security and defensive features.

[Warpy]

3. Not only that, but one has to wonder about the number and variety

of listening devices and other spyware on that thing. While the DOD will do as much of a sweep as they can, they're unlikely to find everything that's been installed.

The Sheikh of Qatar is a fairly pro western, I have to agree that he's unlikely to have done this out of the goodness of his heart, he is being paid somewhere. In any case, King BribeHound can't have it both ways---if it's a gift to the DOD, that is who should keep it. His Royal Library is going to have to make do with pictures and maybe a mockup or two. The real thing can eventually be deeded to the Smithsonian, an exhibit acting as a cautionary tale for stupid people who want dictators or kings.

[Blue Full Moon]

5. Money for it goes back to Iran and Hamas.

[Towlie]

4. I remember a quote from The Rockford Files:

It went something like "My dad once told me that if someone gives you a horse, the first thing to do is take a long, hard, look in its mouth."