Trump’s foreign policy approach in the Middle East is coming under scrutiny as he announces new deals on his Gulf tour. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 14 May at a glance
As Donald Trump brushed off fierce criticism over his plan to accept a $400m luxury jet from the Qatari government, the president announced a lucrative deal for Boeing to supply the Gulf nation with 210 planes.
Trump announced the $96bn contract – the largest-ever order of widebody Boeing planes – during a trip to Doha on Wednesday. The White House claims the aviation agreement will support 154,000 American jobs annually, though it was unclear how those figures were calculated.
Trump has said Qatar’s offer for a Boeing 747-8 jetliner to use as Air Force One was too good to refuse, complaining the current presidential aircraft in underwhelming.
“The plane that you’re on is almost 40 years old,” Trump told the Fox News host Sean Hannity during an interview on Air Force One. “When you land and you see Saudi Arabia, you see UAE and you see Qatar, and they have these brand-new Boeing 747s, mostly. You see ours next to it – this is like a totally different plane.”
