Notes

Taking care of it as a favor. On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the State of Qatar would present his administration with a luxury jetliner valued at about US$400 million, widely described as a “flying palace,” to use as the presidential aircraft—famously designated Air Force One—during his tenure. After which the jet would be decommissioned and transferred to his presidential library. Democrats and other critics, including some Republicans, described the plan as blatant corruption—not to say, illegal under the American Constitution. Accepting the gift would seem an obvious nonstarter for an American president …

So why would Trump do this?

—Michael Bluhm