Trump Never Wanted to Drain the Swamp, He Wanted to Rule It

By Jeffrey Blehar, National Review, May 13, 2025 - As you may know, the president of the United States has announced that he is getting a very special gift from a very strange source: The oil-rich Gulf micro-state of Qatar reportedly is looking to donate a half-billion-dollar Boeing 747-8 to Donald Trump, for use as a replacement for Air Force One. (Trump considers the current AF1 to be “too old” and thus beneath his dignity, although it is in no way unsafe.)

Are you worried about the idea of the president flying around in a plane donated to America by a nation known both for its massive Washington “influence operation” and its friendliness with major terrorist groups in the Middle East? Then fear not, 

for this gift is only “temporary” and shall remain unsullied by future, less worthy presidents: Trump, according to reports, will retire it from federal service and transfer ownership to himself, under the nominal institutional control of his presidential library. “Only a stupid person” would refuse such a gift, he says. So what’s your problem, huh? You’re not stupid, are you?

No, I am not, which is why I refuse to be condescended to by either Trump or his defenders. Your lyin’ eyes are not deceiving you: This is exactly what it looks like, it is utterly appalling, and if you tolerate it or make lazily partisan excuses to justify it, then you will deserve what inevitably comes next.

... This is a transparent attempt at an international bribe — a personal gift to the president to curry future favor — so much so that I don’t see the point in pretending it to be anything but one. Even if you personally believe Trump to be as incorruptible as Robespierre — even if you are that willfully ignorant of his entire history of business dealings — the terrible optics and moral hazards of a president accepting his own personal Air Force One from a nation of shady oil billionaires are beyond obvious.

... Just this April, Trump’s family struck a deal with the Qataris to build a golf course and resort there.

Now Qatar’s government is poised to gift him a new airplane.

Most outrageous of all, really, is how this “gift” is entirely in keeping with how Qatar purchases access and favors within the corridors of Washington power, differing only in scale. The lavish amount of money this postage-stamp petrostate spends at every level of the U.S. lobbying and policymaking establishment is an open secret in the nation’s capital. And the Qataris have to be generous, for this is a nation otherwise primarily known for sheltering Hamas leadership, financially supporting the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and tolerating the deaths of Asian laborers by the truckload during rushed preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar is happy to spend its money wherever it thinks it can curry favor, and Trump’s administration in particular is stocked with people who until recently made millions working as registered foreign agents of the nation, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.

... I remember Donald Trump’s 2016 promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption. I remember the Republican outrage over Joe and Hunter Biden’s corrupt dealings with Ukrainian business interests. ... I understand it now to have all been a joke; a means to an end; a convenient weapon at hand to bash the enemy with. Donald Trump never wanted to drain the swamp. He wanted to become its lord. (Read it all)

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