President Donald Trump knows a thing or two about making a deal.
Like a master chess player, Trump sees several moves ahead of everyone else and knows what to do to get there.
Yet somehow, this fact comes as a shock to the leftist media every time they get played by the guy who literally wrote the book on negotiations.
According to the Washington Times, Trump closed a record-breaking deal for Boeing as Qatari Airways agreed to pay a cool $200 billion to purchase a fleet of 160 aircraft from the company.
This was part of a larger $1.2 trillion “economic exchange” with Qatar that the White House announced Wednesday.
It coincidentally — or maybe not so coincidentally — comes on the heels of an announcement that the Qatari government offered to furnish a jumbo jet for the president to use while he awaits a replacement for the aging Air Force One. (A plan for a new plane has been in the works since 2018.)
News of the arrangement hit just ahead of Trump’s Middle East visit, igniting a firestorm among the same leftist media that all but ignored the Bidens’ shady wheeling and dealing with foreign adversaries.
The media called the plane Trump’s “palace in the sky,” while news outlets and pundits alike insinuated that it was a gift personally given to the president.
They wrung their hands about the optics and called it “bribery,” like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
At this point is it safe to say that Trump is four to five steps ahead of the media on every single issue?
“Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom,” the New York Democrat said via X on Sunday.
Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not just bribery, it’s premium foreign influence with extra legroom. pic.twitter.com/oBqgHbikHf
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 11, 2025
Trump explained the reason for accepting such a gift by pointing out the absurdity of turning it down.
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
“Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA,” Trump concluded.
So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane.…
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 12, 2025
But perhaps it was more than just the utility of the gift that swayed Trump to accept.
In many Middle Eastern cultures, gift-giving is a sign of hospitality and respect. Accepting said gift shows appreciation and reciprocity.
Although negotiations between influential leaders is serious business, these interactions are handled in diplomacy just as they are in interpersonal relationships.
The parties involved must have mutual understanding and find common ground in a negotiation before they make a deal pleasing to both sides.
Trump knows this and likely used it to his advantage, just as he’s likely done in all of his years in business.
It seems like no coincidence that Trump accepted the use of the aircraft just before Qatar agreed to purchase several more American-built planes.
Trump managed to forge ties with key nations, secured a historic deal for Boeing, and negotiated other economic incentives for the U.S. — all while making the American media look foolish and paranoid.
And that’s checkmate.
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