51–60 of 124 posts
How and who is making the decisions about ownership? I'd think they'd have gone for open bidding, or even an IPO. I don't even see why negotiations with the Chinese was needed. There's a law, affirmed by the Supreme Court. The private markets could have handled this just fine. The Biden admin abrogated responsibility here by punting this.
The Gulf States are seeing absolutely excellent ROI for the 1b they pooled together for a 747.
OT but i think the 747 story deserves a bit more nuance. First of all to be clear i'm dismayed by the idea. It's not great optics that Trump wants to keep the plane (library force one?) . Even accepting it in the first place is also odd. Add to that, using it as Air Force One seems to be impractical. BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. From what i understand the…
The Gulf States are seeing absolutely excellent ROI for the 1b they pooled together for a 747.
OT but i think the 747 story deserves a bit more nuance. First of all to be clear i'm dismayed by the idea. It's not great optics that Trump wants to keep the plane (library force one?) . Even accepting it in the first place is also odd. Add to that, using it as Air Force One seems to be impractical. BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. From what i understand the…
well... yeah. you'd have to strip it back to bare metal components and start again, wouldn't you? trust in every bit of electronics on the plane would be zero. be faster to build a new 747 out of spare parts.
The Gulf States are seeing absolutely excellent ROI for the 1b they pooled together for a 747.
OT but i think the 747 story deserves a bit more nuance. First of all to be clear i'm dismayed by the idea. It's not great optics that Trump wants to keep the plane (library force one?) . Even accepting it in the first place is also odd. Add to that, using it as Air Force One seems to be impractical. BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. From what i understand the…
illegal.
That's the word you're looking for. The Constitution is absolutely clear on this: POTUS is not allowed to accept foreign gifts without authorization of Congress. To this day, Trump has neither sought nor received Congressional authorization.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. "We gave a huge gift to an authoritarian leader" is indeed precedent; not a great one, though.
Point is it looks less like a tribute you might offer to a powerful emperor and more like an ordinary plane giveaway.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. "We gave a huge gift to an authoritarian leader" is indeed precedent; not a great one, though.
Point is it looks less like a tribute you might offer to a powerful emperor and more like an ordinary plane giveaway.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
OT but i think the 747 story deserves a bit more nuance. First of all to be clear i'm dismayed by the idea. It's not great optics that Trump wants to keep the plane (library force one?) . Even accepting it in the first place is also odd. Add to that, using it as Air Force One seems to be impractical. BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. From what i understand the…
> Even accepting it in the first place is also odd illegal. That's the word you're looking for. The Constitution is absolutely clear on this: POTUS is not allowed to accept foreign gifts without authorization of Congress. To this day, Trump has neither sought nor received Congressional authorization.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person
holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent
of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.[5]
Run it into the ground!
The Gulf States are seeing absolutely excellent ROI for the 1b they pooled together for a 747.
OT but i think the 747 story deserves a bit more nuance. First of all to be clear i'm dismayed by the idea. It's not great optics that Trump wants to keep the plane (library force one?) . Even accepting it in the first place is also odd. Add to that, using it as Air Force One seems to be impractical. BUT, there is precedent for this move. They gifted an even more expensive plane to Erdogan. From what i understand the…