‘Finally Found a Sucker’: Chris Hayes Roasts Trump for Accepting Jet Qataris Couldn’t Sell

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes had a grand time roasting President Donald Trump on Thursday after Trump said he will accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family.

Ahead of his trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates this week, the president said he is accepting the massive gift and will use it as the next Air Force One. He added that he will retain the jet as part of his presidential library after he leaves office. The gift and Trump’s planned retention of it after his presidency raise obvious ethical concerns, particularly since Trump’s family is opening a $5.5 billion golf resort in Qatar.

On Thursday’s All In, Hayes likened the Qatari jet, which has been on the market for years, to Michael Jordan’s nine-bedroom Chicago-area mansion tailored to the basketball legend’s tastes. Jordan tried to sell the home for 12 years before offloading it at a 67% discount. Hayes noted that other mega-rich people don’t need Jordan’s “hand-me-downs” because they can build their own dream mansions. He then pivoted to the jet, which the Qataris have been trying to sell since 2020, but have run into Jordan-esque problems because the market for this kind of plane is extremely limited.

“Today, what we are now learning is that the $400 million private jet that the government of Qatar gifted to Donald Trump is the Michael Jordan’s house of private planes,” the host said. “It was initially designed back in 2012 for the former Qatari prime minister, but it sounds like the expensive jet was just more trouble than it’s worth, according to a new report in Forbes.”

The Forbes article stated that Qataris may have simply given Trump the plane because “they just don’t want it anymore.”

“The Royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020,” it went on. “Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.”

But the real kicker was a July 2020 article about the plane in One Mile at a Time by Ben Schlappig, who concluded, “I can’t imagine Qatar will find a buyer for this plane. So one has to wonder who this 747-8 will be gifted to.”

Hayes read the quote and added, “Well, looks like Qatar finally found a sucker to pawn it off on.”

Watch above via MSNBC.