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Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources - ABC News

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In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar -- a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News.

The gift is expected to be announced next week, when Trump visits Qatar on the first foreign trip of his second term, according to sources familiar with the plans.

Trump toured the plane, which is so opulently configured it is known as "a flying palace," while it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport in February.

The highly unusual -- unprecedented -- arrangement is sure to raise questions about whether it is legal for the Trump administration, and ultimately, the Trump presidential library foundation, to accept such a valuable gift from a foreign power.

Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution's prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State."

Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be "legally permissible" for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.

The sources said Bondi provided a legal memorandum addressed to the White House counsel's office last week after Warrington asked her for advice on the legality of the Pentagon accepting such a donation.

The White House and DOJ didn't immediately respond to request for comment. A spokesperson for the Qatari embassy did not respond to ABC's inquiries.

The plane will initially be transferred to the United States Air Force, which will modify the 13-year-old aircraft to meet the U.S. military specifications required for any aircraft used to transport the president of the United States, multiple sources familiar with the proposed arrangement said.

The plane will then be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation no later than Jan. 1, 2029, and any costs relating to its transfer will be paid for by the U.S. Air Force, the sources told ABC News.

According to aviation industry experts, the estimated value of the aircraft Trump will inherit is about $400 million, and that's without the additional communications security equipment the Air Force will need to add to properly secure and outfit the plane in order to safely transport the commander in chief.

As the Wall Street Journal first reported, the aviation company L3Harris has already been commissioned to overhaul the plane to meet the requirements of a presidential jet.

Both the White House and DOJ concluded that because the gift is not conditioned on any official act, it does not constitute bribery, the sources said. Bondi's legal analysis also says it does not run afoul of the Constitution's prohibition on foreign gifts because the plane is not being given to an individual, but rather to the United States Air Force and, eventually, to the presidential library foundation, the sources said.

The primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet includes two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since 1990. The Air Force contract with Boeing to replace those aircraft has been riddled with delays and cost overruns.

The original contract was signed in 2018, but as of last year, Boeing anticipated the aircraft would not be ready until 2029, after Trump leaves office.

The president has expressed deep frustration with the delays, tasking Elon Musk to work with Boeing and the Air Force to speed up the process. Those efforts have been modestly successful. Boeing's most recent estimated delivery date is now 2027, but Trump has made it clear he wants a new plane this year.

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Morelle’s Statement on Abrupt Firing of Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights | Committee on House Administration

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WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25), the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, issued this statement after Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, was fired earlier today by President Trump – days after he fired now-former Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden:

“Donald Trump’s termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis. It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.

“Register Perlmutter is a patriot, and her tenure has propelled the Copyright Office into the 21st century by comprehensively modernizing its operations and setting global standards on the intersection of AI and intellectual property.

“This action once again tramples on Congress’s Article One authority and throws a trillion-dollar industry into chaos. When will my Republican colleagues decide enough is enough?” 

Background:

Shira Perlmutter – a legislative branch employee – was appointed to her key leadership role in October 2020. As a leader in the legislative branch, Perlmutter advised Congress and executive branch agencies on copyright policy and directed the administration of important provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act. Yesterday, the Office issued a report opining on the use of copyrighted material to train generative AI models.

### 

The Committee on House Administration’s jurisdiction includes federal elections, House operations, Capitol Complex security, Smithsonian Institution, and Legislative Branch agencies such as the Library of Congress and Government Publishing Office.

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I wish I could laugh anymore

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It’s from McSweeney’s. It’s a joke.

The all-gender bathrooms will be changed to “both-gender” bathrooms because, as biology tells us, there are only two genders.
(The biology department has informed us that this is not true.)
The biology department has been dissolved.

Ha ha, it’s satire that exaggerates a potential problem, therefore it’s funny. Ha ha.

Except…it includes a link to an article on the American Association of University Professors site.

Similarly, the University of North Texas administration recently censored the content of more than two hundred academic courses, including by mandating the removal of words such as race, gender, class, and equity from undergraduate and graduate course titles and descriptions.6 These actions were allegedly taken in response to state legislation banning certain diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and practices, even though the legislation specifically exempted academic course content. While university administrators and faculty members may be compelled to comply with legislation and court orders, even where these run counter to professional and constitutional principles, they remain free to register their disagreement. And under no circumstances should an institution go further than the law demands. Yet, the examples above depict an eagerness to obey on the part of administrative officers, portending a bleak future for higher education.

Wait…is this still satire? Should I keep laughing? Is the AAUP, normally a pretty damned serious site, joking?

No?

I tell you, don’t go to college in Texas. Get out of the state as quick as you can. There may be good colleges there, but the state government is certifiably insane and will be chopping the hell out of the education system there.

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6 days ago
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7 days ago
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PhD Timeline

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Rümeysa Öztürk was grabbed off the street in my town one month ago.
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hannahdraper
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popular
17 days ago
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3 public comments
jlvanderzwan
15 days ago
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It's depressing how many people go through life with an "I don't see the problem, *I'm* not a witch" attitude
wyeager
17 days ago
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Thank you, Randall. The state of things is not sane and we all need to be speaking up. Bravo.
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alt_text_bot
18 days ago
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Rümeysa Öztürk was grabbed off the street in my town one month ago.
Tazio
18 days ago
Boo hoo! A Hamas sympathizer has to leave the USA. I'm so sad.
rtreborb
17 days ago
Oh how far xkcd has drifted...
mxm23
17 days ago
Um due process? Um legally resident?
acdha
17 days ago
@rtreborb: if Christ is really your all, you might want to think deeply about Matthew 7:23. Randall Monroe isn’t the one who’s drifted away from his values.
gordol
17 days ago
@tazio The 1st Amendment applies to everyone in the country. To deny this is to allow yourself to lose your rights too.
jheiss
16 days ago
I know, don't feed the trolls and all. But not knowing anything about this case I went and read the Wikipedia page and there seems to be no evidence, or even really any suggestion, that she was doing anything other than advocating for peace. But as others have pointed out, even if she was doing something wrong she deserves due process like the rest of us.

💧 OK Go Prevails Against Such Staggering Odds

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[Filmed in a grand Budapest train station of somеthingness]

When last we checked in with OK Go (the band), they were lamentably involved in a lawsuit with Post Foods, over the latter’s product “OK GO!” (the cereal cups). I suggested the massive corporation ought to get a new name, and it seems they wised up and did just that. It also seems like after all that aggravation, the weird OK GO! “just add water to get a cup full of cereal with milk” product is already defunct.

OK Go the band, however, remains completely funct. In fact, they’ve just released a new album,“And The Adjacent Possible”. That means it’s time for some amazing new music videos, and the latest, for their single “Love”, does not disappoint. It features 63 mirrors, 29 robots, and 1 continuous shot. It’s a whole lot of very precise fun:

A video still from the OK Go video for “Love”
There are many Damians Kulash in this still frame from the video.

As part of the filming the music video, the band partnered with the non-profit Project Management Institute (“committed to advancing the project management profession”), because sure, why not? Together, they created a shockingly compelling in-depth look at the process of making the video for “Love”. I didn’t expect to watch all 20 minutes of it, but I did. Perhaps you will too.

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i saw a post on twitter by a european saying americans are fake for their random compliments to…

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aprillikesthings:

unreconstructedfangirl:

fremedon:

distractedbyshinyobjects:

heathyr:

i saw a post on twitter by a european saying americans are fake for their random compliments to strangers and their general cheery demeanor and like no. no no no you don’t understand. if you get a random compliment from an american on the street about your outfit or whatever, that is 100% genuine. we mean it. we aren’t lying we are making a small but fleeting connection with you because our lives are shitty but the human condition is enduring. oh god i’m clutching my chest

If you get a compliment from a random American on the street, know that they tried their best to keep from saying a peep to you but they literally could not hold it in. They HAD to say something.

The other day a tiny gay man in a hurry bumped me on the Metro escalator and said “Sorry, great dress by the way” and then he stopped at the top of the escalator and turned around and said “AND a great hat. THAT is how we do summer!” and SPRINTED for his bus and I coasted on that for the rest of the day.

Love this post!

When I first moved to Prague I had a colleague who had such great style, and I always complimented her because I thought she was hot and cool. Years later when we were friends, she told me that she always suspected me of trying to manipulate her somehow because that is not how Czechs roll, and it was really inconceivable to her that I was simply complimenting her with no ulterior motive, but that’s culturally normal to me?

Also, I am married to a British person, and his mother is an artist – she’s a collograph print-maker, and she told me that whenever she wants a pick me up, she sends photos of her latest prints to me, because I can be counted upon to say something nice. What can I say? I love her work? Her prints are beautiful, so…not faking?

Americans have a lot of blind spots and issues, but saying the nice thing in their brains to other people is fine? Like? A little more kindness and connection isn’t hurting anyone?

There was a post on r/askanamerican just the other day, by a guy living in Eastern Europe who has a fun backpack (it looks like a reeses cup package with a bite taken out of it!) and said he constantly got compliments on it from American tourists

And he was like…are all of you like that? You say nice things to total strangers as if you’re life-long friends??

And the entire comment section was like: Yup. Absolutely. This is 100% a thing we do.

And someone looked up a picture of the backpack and shared it and we were all like OMG THAT IS AN AMAZING BACKPACK yeah if I saw someone in any city on earth wearing that thing I would in fact say something.

Sometimes posts on that subreddit are a trash fire, but we were all so happy to talk about times we’ve told strangers compliments or been complimented by strangers.

And genuinely, it’s one of the few things that makes me proud to be American. Like. We have a reputation for telling total strangers when we like something they’re wearing/doing. And we mean it, every single time!

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hannahdraper
22 days ago
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If you get a compliment from a random American on the street, know that they tried their best to keep from saying a peep to you but they literally could not hold it in. They HAD to say something.

...

Americans have a lot of blind spots and issues, but saying the nice thing in their brains to other people is fine? Like? A little more kindness and connection isn’t hurting anyone?
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22 days ago
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