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

[DFW]

19. There is one little detail they might want to take into account

I ran into this thirty years ago. The first time I met Bill Clinton, he was still in office, and I brought him an ornate original 1871 Arkansas Levee Bond. It is a fairly rare item, and I was told that he was not allowed to keep it unless it was valued at under $200. Luckily, I had paid less than that for it, and had the invoice to prove it. Sitting presidents are prohibited by law from keeping gifts received while in office if their value exceeds $200.

Now, I have not recently kept up on the price of a Boeing 747, but my gut feeling is (correct me if I'm wrong) that it would probably exceed the $200 limit. Even if he and Pam Bondi were to declare the law as not applicable to presidents whose last name starts with a T and has less than six letters, the next AG would have it confiscated all the same. If a few lawyers somehow manage to do up the wording so that he doesn't take ownership until after he leaves office (and then, only if vertically), the fair value of use will exceed the $200 limit all the same. If he takes ownership after he leaves office, there might be a tax issue or two as well.