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The sheer graft of it isn’t the only jaw-dropping aspect of President Donald Trump’s eagerness to accept a $400 million luxury jet as a gift from the emirate of Qatar. It’s also a stunning security violation.

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Clearly the offer of a free 747—which Trump would use as Air Force One—violates all ethical norms, even if Attorney General Pam Bondi (who happens to be a former lobbyist for Qatar) attests otherwise. It’s especially improper that the deal reportedly lets Trump’s corporation take ownership of the plane after he leaves office.

It might also violate Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution, which prohibits any U.S. officeholder to “accept any present … of any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” But there may be a loophole here, as the section bars such gifts only if they are accepted “without the consent of the Congress”—and this Congress, if asked, is likely to let this president accept anything.

In any case, it is striking how oblivious, or simply indifferent, Trump is to any possibility of corruption. When a reporter raised such concerns, Trump angrily brushed them off, saying that only “a stupid person” would turn down such an offer.

So far, though, few critics of this transaction have noted its security implications. Qatar is not only appealing to the American president’s avarice but intruding on his—and all America’s—turf. The plane is not just a hefty bribe, but also—at least potentially—a flying Trojan horse.

Air Force One is equipped with everything that a president needs in the air—all the communications gear, intelligence files, and other top-secret paraphernalia that he or she would have on the ground. And of course, all the aides traveling along would have their phones as well.

One can only wonder how many listening devices and cybertools the Qataris will plant inside that plane before turning it over to the White House.

“These are my most important concerns,” a former senior official at the National Security Agency told me. Even if American agents detected some of the Qatari spy gear, they can never know they’ve swept it all clean. “The plane cannot be returned to a safe mode,” the former official, who worked for many years in the offense and defense side of communications intelligence, said. “It can only be built to attain one in the first place.”

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern Read More

Back in the 1970s, the U.S. started to build a new embassy in Moscow. As a friendly gesture (this was in the era of Soviet–American détente), the State Department hired Russian workers to do much of the construction. By the mid-’80s, security experts discovered that the workers had filled the building’s walls, joints, wiring—every available space—with a vast array of listening devices. (They also tossed in wrenches, pipes, and other junk, just to throw off any electronic scanners.) The compromises were so extensive, the embassy was deemed unusable, at least if U.S. diplomats wanted their conversations to remain private. The embassy was scrapped before it was opened.

The same fate may await Qatar’s 747. Trump has hailed the gift, in advance, as a “great gesture.” Indeed.

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