There isn’t much that will get Donald Trump’s most loyal media defenders to break with him and say that something he did was unquestionably wrong. Accepting a $400 million plane from the royal family of Qatar, it appears, is one of the things that crosses that line.
As pointed out by The Daily Beast, several right-wing media figures who aren’t typically in the business of ripping Donald Trump did so, in reaction to the news that Trump plans to accept a new Air Force One as a gift from Qatar.
Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, and Mark Levin are among those who have gone after Trump in this fashion.
Shapiro, who was a “never Trumper” for a longer period than most before backing the president in 2020 and 2024, criticized Trump for “taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest—that is not America first.”
Ben Shapiro on Qatar gifting Trump a plane: “Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, that’s not America first….If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.” pic.twitter.com/fZGGf6iM8N
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 12, 2025
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Laura Loomer, such a Trump ultra-loyalist that she frequently gets into beefs with other Trump fans over their insufficient loyalty, also came out against the Qatar jet, seemingly motivated by her longtime hatred of anything Muslim.
“Qatar is not our friend,” Loomer told Politico about the country that has hosted several top Hamas leaders. “If the initial reports are factual, I think it’s concerning.”
I love President Trump.
I would take a bullet for him.
But, I have to call a spade a spade.
We cannot accept a $400 million “gift” from jihadists in suits.
The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same… https://t.co/V4kzJpCsRk pic.twitter.com/HqVztPfZZ3
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 11, 2025
“This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true,” Loomer wrote. “And I say that as someone who take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.”
“I understand the reasoning about not wanting to burden the United States taxpayer with $400 million. But it’s going to complicate foreign policy about the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, which was promised and undelivered in the first Trump administration,” Loomer told Politico.
Mark Levin, a talk show host and conservative legal commentator, also disapproved of the Qatar, signed “ditto” on to Loomer’s post about the deal.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.