NC lawmakers react to Trump considering ‘palace in the sky’ gift from Qatar

Happy Monday! It’s Danielle Battaglia with today’s Under the Dome.

When’s the last time you walked outside and spent a few minutes just looking up at the sky?

Wise men who came before us tell us that there’s peace in doing so. And I believe the practice is just lovely.

But even the friendly skies aren’t immune from the political controversies here on the ground. (It’s Monday. Of course I wasn’t going to leave you with warm fuzzies).

A kerfuffle has rippled through the Republican Party after President Donald Trump announced he is poised to accept what’s been called a “palace in the sky” from Qatar. It’s a $400 million Boeing 747-8 that Trump wants to use as Air Force One.

You might be saying, but Danielle, don’t we have an Air Force One?

We do. We have two. In fact, I live under the flight path out of Washington so I see the planes often.

But they’re also more than 30 years old. To put that in perspective, the oldest plane was used by President George H.W. Bush.

Boeing, the company behind the 747-200Bs that carry the president around the world, are working on building new Air Force One planes including a bevy of safety protections and advanced communications for the president and those on board. But the release of these new planes were delayed from 2024 to 2027.

So when Qatar announced it would donate a 13-year-old luxury plane to Trump for use, he jumped at it. “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our country,” Trump posted on social media, vowing that it would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. (Spoiler: It won’t. The plane has to be stripped to its studs and upfitted with high-powered defense and communications systems. And taxpayers still would buy those new planes.)

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, spoke to reporters Monday about accepting the gift.

“It’s going to have to be put through a lot of paces and every square inch analyzed before the president should consider it his primary means of transportation,” Tillis said. ”Then you have to work through the cost-benefit of it right? I mean we’re in a world of DOGE so we have to figure out if it’s worth upfitting or selling it and writing a check to the Treasury to help us with our debt reduction.”

Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from Raleigh, addressed the legality of accepting the plane.

“If you’re looking for an example of a bribe, I found one,” Ross wrote on social media. “The Constitution expressly prohibits gifts from foreign nations without the approval of Congress. And hint: we wouldn’t approve this one.”

Trump made clear in his own social media posts that this gift would first go to the Department of Defense to use temporarily as Air Force One until the two Boeings that are under contract are complete. Then, the planes are believed to be transferred to Trump’s presidential library, meaning it would follow Trump and not the presidency.

Tillis told reporters that Trump might be accepting the plane with that understanding, but other actions would have to take place to make that happen.

And to leave you with a fun fact: Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to use a noncommercial plane — in 1945 — for official travel. At the time, it was called the Sacred Cow, and boy, am I glad that didn’t stick. You can thank President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s flight in 1954 for the name change.

Here’s what else we’re working on this week:

▪ The House is working through Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” and in doing so giving us a better picture of what that means for potential cuts to social safety net programs. Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi breaks down the potential impact to Medicaid recipients in North Carolina.

▪ And Kristen Johnson has the response from North Carolina’s Latino community to those cuts and actions Trump took in his first 100 days.

▪ I reported that Asheville Police chose not to take out charges against Rep. Chuck Edwards after Edwards was accused of striking a man with a clipboard at a Rotary event over the weekend.

▪ Cuts to the federal workforce ended an investigation into toxic chemicals in Poe Hall at NC State University. Rep. Deborah Ross is now asking Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy for help. Korie Dean reports.

▪ Hope Renovations, a job training program for women and nonbinary people, is trying to raise money to continue operations after learning the federal government was cutting funding to its program. Tammy Grubb has more.

On that note, don’t forget, we want to hear from our readers, if Trump’s new policies are having a personal impact on you. You can fill out the form we created to get in touch with our staff and tell us your personal stories.

That’s it for now. Be kind to each other. And check back tomorrow for the Under the Dome podcast newsletter.

And if you have any feedback or tips for this new edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com. Toodle-oo!

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This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Danielle Battaglia

McClatchy DC

Danielle Battaglia is the congressional impact reporter for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, leading coverage of the impact of North Carolina’s congressional delegation and the White House. Her career has spanned three North Carolina newsrooms where she has covered crime, courts and local, state and national politics. She has won two McClatchy President’s awards and numerous national and state awards for her work.