There’s more to Donald Trump’s Middle East trip than billion-dollar contracts, parades of camels and a storm back home over Qatar’s offer to give the president a new Air Force One.

Donald Trump is the most powerful and famous person on the planet, and the American president is at the helm of the biggest economy and the strongest military.

In May 2025, the nation of Qatar gave the Department of Defense a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be remodeled into a new Air Force One.

Several Democratic senators are questioning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over President Trump’s acceptance of a jet from Qatar, stressing in a letter the national security risks and

Congressional lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties raised both legal and ethical concerns about the White House’s plan to use a gifted luxury

Aboard Air Force One, Trump lamented to Fox News host Sean Hannity of the U.S. government plane's comparative old age of 40 years and lackluster appearance next to Qatar's, Saudi Arabia's and the United Arab Emirates' "brand new Boeing 747s."

Congress has not accepted the plane, which would be used mainly by Trump and his staff. Trump has said that after his term ends Jan. 20, 2029, the plane would be transferred to his presidential library — although it's unclear whether it would be under private or public ownership and accessible to the public.

Follow for live updates as Trump continues his Middle East trip in Saudi Arabia and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill.