Former White House aide turned political pundit Alyssa Farrah Griffin knocked President Trump over his reported acceptance of a jet from Qatar to use for his official travel, saying the move “scares” her.
“I don’t know why he need a brand new luxury plane right now,” Griffin said Monday on ABC’s The View. “It’s clearly a violation of ethics rules … it’s also a huge national security risk.”
Griffin said Trump accepting the jet signifies the U.S. “getting in bed” with Qatar, adding “it scares me in so many ways.”
Griffin isn’t the only one made nervous by Trump’s decision. Several GOP senators on Monday told The Hill they had concerns about the purchase.
“I’m not flying on a Qatari plane. They support Hamas,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), an ardent Trump supporter. “I don’t know how you make it safe.”
“‘Gosh, let me give you a plane.’ I mean, that seems pretty nice, but they support Hamas, so I don’t know. I don’t know how you make it safe,” Scott continued, declining to say what Trump should do as the decision is up to him. “I don’t want the president of the United States flying on an unsafe plane.”
Trump on Monday defended his decision, saying a new plane was necessary and he would have been “stupid” not to accept the gift from Qatar.
“They said, ‘We would like to do something,’ and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
Some Democrats have suggested the president needs to get approval from Congress in order to a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet from the Qatari government.
Griffin, a CNN contributor and co-host of The View, was a former top press aide to the president during his first term who has since emerged as one of his sharpest critics in the media.
