THE QATARI PLANE

Even die-hard Trump supporters are queasy about his taking 'sacks of goodies' from a state known for funding Hamas. The supposedly 'free' gift might yet turn out to be politically costly

- Jan-Werner Mueller

Remember the airplane that Qatar gave Donald Trump? It was just over a week ago that the American president accepted this $400 million “gift” from the Gulf monarchy — a move that was somehow certified as legal by his attorney general, Pam Bondi, herself a former lobbyist for Qatar.

In the days since, Trump has doled out seats for a private dinner to the largest holders of his personal “memecoin.” With Trump, the corrupt conduct has come so fast that it is hard to keep up, making it difficult for public opinion to focus on any particular scandal.

Yet there is something special about the plane story. It sheds more light on the peculiarities of Trump's regime in comparison to other kleptocracies, and it may foreshadow future political turbulence for what is already the most corrupt administration in US history.

The backstory is that, after receiving a private tour of the Qatari Boeing 747 — a gilded “palace in the sky” — in Florida, Trump is said to have become fixated on it. Boeing's delivery of new Air Force One jets apparently has been delayed until 2027 or later, and here was a plane with all Trump's favourite trappings: gold (whether real or fake) and an excess of ornamentation in a style that one architecture critic calls “regional car dealership rococo.”

Originally, palaces served as the residences of Roman emperors. By mixing official administration and private life, they signaled that the state belonged to a particular person. Thus, as an aesthetic form, the palace is fundamentally inappropriate in a democracy (unless, as in some former or current monarchies, there are clear design choices that distance the occupant from anything resembling dictator chic).