1 month ago
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Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) on Monday teased “a logic that a lot of people aren’t talking about yet” which may help sway public opinion over President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to accept a luxury $400 million jumbo jet — to be temporarily used as Air Force One — from Qatar’s ruling family.
But Rounds kept silent on what the actual logic is, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that “a lot of it’s still classified” and then admitting: “I probably shouldn’t be breaking that story.”
Collins had earlier asked Rounds if he was “ethically and optically” comfortable “with the president flying on a plane that was gifted to him by Qatar?”
Trump has drawn criticism from across the political divide for his willingness to accept a Boeing 747 from Qatar, to be used as Air Force One, while two new presidential planes are being built. The Qatari jet will then be transferred to Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office.
Rounds replied to Collins:
“If we can show the American people that there was a method and a reason why it is beneficial in terms of this transition, I think that will help a lot. And I think there may very well be an argument made that as we transition from the old 747, which are still in service, to the new 747s, there’s a number of items that have to be included in each of the 747s. If we can build some of that and then transition it out of one 747 and then into the new one, there may very well be some benefits to that while the old 747s are still flying.”
“We’ve had a chance to talk to some of the folks in the Air Force, and the Air Force actually does have a plan to be able to work through this,” he claimed.
“And I’m not gonna get into it because a lot of it’s still classified, but there is a logic that a lot of people aren’t talking about yet. And I probably shouldn’t be breaking that story,” Rounds added.
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Watch the exchange on CNN here:
English (US) ·