Qatar didn’t wait for Trump to land before attempting to impress him with a fighter jet escort, just like Saudi Arabia had done the day before.
Trump received ceremonial escorts from each nation’s F-15 fighter jets as he flew into Riyadh on Tuesday and Doha on Wednesday as part of his Middle East tour, which is an incredibly uncommon sight.
Videos of the escorts were shared online by Margo Martin, a White House official.
She wrote on Tuesday that Saudi F-15 was providing Air Force One with honorary escort. After the U.S. Air Force, the Royal Saudi Air Force possesses the largest fleet of American-built F-15s in the world.
Martin then wrote on Wednesday: “What a view flying into Qatar!!!” In return, she took a picture of Air Force One, even capturing one of the Qatari pilots sitting in the backseat of the F-15.
Qatar has impressed Trump with more than just fighter jets; it also offered to give him a high-end Boeing 747-8 that the United States could use as Air Force One while Boeing builds new models of the aircraft.
Trump has defended the proposal as a wise financial decision for the US. However, his detractors have called it “naked corruption” and “a grave national security threat,” questioning what it would mean for a president to accept an incredibly valuable gift from a foreign government.
The Republican president is visiting the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as part of a trip to three countries in the Middle East.