Chris Murphy says Trump strategically visited Gulf states \u2018willing to pay him off\u2019 as backlash rises against luxury offer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s acceptance of a $400m Boeing jet<\/a> from Qatar<\/a> is the \u201cdefinition of corruption\u201d, a leading Democrat said on Sunday, as several senior Republicans joined in a bipartisan fusillade of criticism and concern over the luxury gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut<\/a>, condemned the \u201cflying grift<\/a>\u201d on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press as he assailed the president\u2019s trip to several Gulf states<\/a> this week that included a stop in Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy did he choose these three countries for his first major foreign trip? It\u2019s not because these are our most important allies or the most important countries in the world,\u201d he said of Trump\u2019s visit to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s because these are the three countries willing to pay him off. Every single one of these countries is giving Trump money, the plane from Qatar, an investment in his cryptocurrency scam from the UAE, and they are asking for national security concessions in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is the definition of corruption. Foreign governments putting money in the president\u2019s pocket and then the US giving them national security concessions that hurt our own security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rand Paul, a Republican US senator for Kentucky, and chair of his chamber\u2019s homeland security committee, told ABC\u2019s This Week that the gift of the jet \u201cat least gives the appearance of a conflict of interest\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Mike Pence, Trump\u2019s vice-president during his first Oval Office term, said it was \u201cinconsistent with our security\u201d during an appearance on Meet the Press in which he pointed out Qatar had been previously accused of financing international terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has insisted he would be \u201cstupid\u201d<\/a> to refuse Qatar\u2019s offer of the jet, which would serve as the new Air Force One before being donated to his presidential library upon his retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the proposal enraged even close allies of the president<\/a>, some calling it the opposite of Trump\u2019s promise to drain the swamp \u2013 and \u201ca stain on the administration\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump lashed out at critics on his Truth Social network on Saturday, claiming the gift was to the US and not personally for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n