Qatar says plane gift to Trump ‘normal thing between allies’

ISTANBUL

Qatar defended on Tuesday its offer of a Boeing 747-8 jet as a gift to US President Donald Trump as a “normal thing between allies.”

“I see it as a normal thing that happens between allies," Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

The 400-million-dollar luxury jet offer has raised concerns that Doha was trying to buy influence in Washington through its gift to Trump.

"I hope that the US looks to Qatar as a reliable diplomatic partner, not as a state trying to buy influence," Sheikh Mohammed said.

Trump reportedly toured the aircraft at Palm Beach International Airport in February, according to The New York Times.

The US president visited Qatar last week as part of a Gulf tour that also included Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.