France gave the US Statue of Liberty, Qatar offered Trump $400M plane. Experts say it’s not the same

What do the Statue of Liberty and a super luxury jumbo Boeing 747-8 have in common?

Other than their proximity to clouds, not much. But in response to concerns that President Donald Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million plane from Qatar could be unconstitutional, social media users began drawing parallels. Trump has said the jet would be gifted to the U.S. Air Force and used as the new Air Force One.

"I can't wait for the press to find out about France's so-called 'gift' of the Statue of Liberty, accepted in 1886 by then-President Grover Cleveland," conservative commentator Ann Coulter posted May 13 on X. 

"If you don't think we should accept the Qatari 747s, should we give the Statue of Liberty back too?" another X user said. 

So what’s the difference between accepting Lady Liberty, gifted by the French people, and Trump accepting a plane from Qatar’s monarchy?

The people of France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, not to a government official. Congress formally accepted it and the statue remains a public monument accessible to the public. 

Congress has not accepted the plane, which would be used mainly by Trump and his staff. Trump has said that after his term ends Jan. 20, 2029, the plane would be transferred to his presidential library — although it's unclear whether it would be under private or public ownership and accessible to the public. 

The Statue of Liberty, gifted to the American people, is accessible to the public

The Statue of Liberty was not a gift to a specific government official nor the U.S. government. 

"The Statue of Liberty was gifted by the French people to the American people," said Edward Berenson, professor of history and French studies at New York University and author of the book "The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story." 

The statue and pedestal were both mainly funded with private donations. The French public raised money to build the statue and the American public raised money for the statue’s pedestal.

Although it didn’t set aside funds for it, Congress formally accepted the statue as a gift from the people of France in 1877.

The statue’s acceptance and erection spanned five presidencies. In 1877, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill designating Bedloe’s Island, which is federal property, as the statue's site. Ultimately, Cleveland spoke at the statue’s unveiling in 1886.

Since 1933, the National Park Service has managed the Statue of Liberty. The site is free to visit, but a ferry to the island costs money. 

In the late 1800s, the statue didn’t raise the same concerns we are currently seeing around the plane. "Since it wasn't a gift to the president, emoluments didn't come up, and there were no constitutional issues," Berenson said.

The Constitution’s emoluments clause says, "No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

The situation with the plane is "radically different," University of Carolina Law professor Michael J. Gerhardt said. "Cleveland never took the Statue of Liberty home."

The plane raises constitutional concerns, and its future ownership is unclear

It is not unusual for presidents to receive gifts from foreign states, but gifts valued at over $480 are traditionally turned over to the National Archives. Sometimes, the gifts that presidents receive are ultimately displayed by the National Archives in a presidential library or museum, said Barbara Perry, a professor of governance and presidential expert at the University of Virginia. 

Some legal experts told PolitiFact they believe accepting the plane would violate the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause.

Trump’s White House has countered that this gift is not a constitutional violation, because it is not a personal gift to the president but a gift to the U.S. Air Force. 

Still, University of Missouri law professor Frank Bowman said that it doesn’t mean it's not an emolument. "The gift of this particular plane, the principal enjoyment of which both during the next three and a half years… and then for the rest of his life would accrue only to Donald Trump. That's an emolument, any way you slice it, because the benefit goes to one person." 

And that the plane will not remain a U.S. Air Force property, "blows the notion that this is a gift to the country completely out of the water," Bowman said. 

Trump said the plane will go to his library, similar to the retired Air Force plane at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi, California. "It would go directly to the library after I leave office. I wouldn't be using it," he said on May 12.

But that parallel isn’t quite the same as what Trump and Qatar have proposed. The Air Force One plane at the Reagan library was not a gift from a foreign country, but a plane that was retired in 2001 after 30 years of use. 

The Reagan library does not own the plane; it remains on permanent loan from the U.S. Air Force, Melissa Giller, chief marketing officer at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute told PolitiFact via email. 

Presidential libraries are typically co-managed by the National Archives and private foundations, Perry said. It is not clear which part — the private or public side — would get the airplane. If it’s given to his private library foundation, Trump may have more latitude to continue to use the plane after his presidency. If it is given to the National Archives for display in the library, the government would likely be able to dictate its use. 

The White House did not respond to PolitiFact questions about who would own the plane once at the library.

It is possible that the plane ultimately becomes a publicly-owned tourist attraction, like Air Force One at the Reagan Library or the Statue of Liberty, but that’s not guaranteed.