New Republic -Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution—the foreign emoluments clause—says that no person holding an office of the United States shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present “of any kind whatever” (yes, it says those very words) from any foreign state.
Trump’s first term was a serial violation of the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses, as influence-seekers of all stripes clamored to support his Washington D.C. hotel and other businesses. But the business profits he pocketed from people seeking his goodwill in the first term are chump change next to the gaudily lavish, gold-plated, (and possibly bugged) Qatari luxury jet.
There is no serious argument that Trump’s acceptance of the plane does not violate the emoluments clause. Trump has tried to trot out an argument that it’s really a gift to the government and not to him. But if it’s partly for his personal enjoyment—and certainly, if it winds up with his foundation and not the government after his tenure—the law is quite clear that it falls within the clause.
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