‘Not My Lane’: House Speaker Mike Johnson Defers To Trump On Accepting Gift Plane | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated Wednesday it was none of his enterprise if the president of the United States wished to just accept a $400 million aircraft as a present from the federal government of Qatar.

The Constitution says no officer of the U.S. authorities can settle for items from international governments with out congressional approval. Johnson stated it wasn’t that form of reward, but in addition that he didn’t know a lot about it.

“I’m not following all the twists and turns of the Qatar jet. I’ve certainly heard about it. My understanding is it’s not a personal gift to the president. It’s a gift to the United States, and other nations give us gifts all the time,” Johnson stated. “But I’m going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details of that, OK? I’m just — it’s not my lane.”

Johnson labored as a constitutional lawyer earlier than changing into a member of Congress.

The White House has stated the reward was supplied to the Department of Defense, however sources conversant in the association informed ABC News that the jet could be transferred to the Trump presidential library basis shortly earlier than he leaves workplace. Trump stated Monday it will go to his library, however extra as an exhibit than a automobile. “I wouldn’t be using it,” he informed reporters.

Democrats have stated the jet is an apparent violation of the Constitution’s ban on international items. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) demanded Bondi hand over any inner steerage she’s written on the permissibility of the reward.

“As reported, this gift clearly violates the Constitution and the statutory regime enacted by Congress to govern such gifts,” Durbin wrote.

Durbin additionally questioned the propriety of the reward in gentle of Bondi’s previous lobbying on behalf of the Qatari authorities and the announcement final month that the Trump household enterprise had reached a deal to construct a luxurious golf resort in Qatar. Unlike current previous presidents, Trump has not divested from his household’s enterprise.

Some Republicans have questioned the aircraft current, each for its moral implications in addition to the sensible ones, because the aircraft would seemingly want in depth retrofitting to accommodate the president’s safety wants. Mostly, nevertheless, the Republican Party has shruggedsimilar to Johnson did.

In a Truth Social put up late Tuesday, Trump insisted the jet could be a present to the Department of Defense, to not himself personally.

“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 wrote. “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.”

A reporter requested Johnson why he supported an impeachment inquiry towards President Joe Biden over his household’s international enterprise offers if he’s OK with what the Trump household is doing.

“They were doing all this stuff behind curtains, but in the back rooms, they were trying to conceal it, and they repeatedly lied about it, and they set up shell companies,” Johnson stated, referring to the Bidens. “Whatever President Trump is doing is out in the open.”