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A-list celebrity Kim Kardashian is to testify in a Paris court on Tuesday, an eagerly awaited appearance nearly a decade after being robbed of millions of dollars of jewellery during the French capital’s fashion week.Ten suspects have been on trial since late April over the armed robbery in 2016, which saw jewellery worth some $10 million stolen from the reality TV star and influencer.The trial has attracted huge media attention, with close to 500 reporters accredited.Kardashian is ready to “confront” her Paris attackers, her lawyers said last week.”She is committed to attending in person,” French lawyers Leonor Hennerick and Jonathan Mattout told AFP last week, saying she would do so “with dignity and courage”.She is due to take the stand at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).On the night of October 2-3, 2016, Kardashian, then 35, was robbed while staying at an exclusive, discreet hotel in central Paris.She was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up with her mouth taped.Lawyers have not divulged what exactly Kardashian, who has been keeping abreast of developments at the trial, will say in her court appearance.During what the French press has dubbed the “heist of the century”, masked men walked away with millions of dollars’ worth of jewels.That included a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).The theft was the most valuable to target a private individual in France in 20 years.Those on trial are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records.They have underworld nicknames like “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes” that resemble those of old-school French bandits of 1960s and 1970s films noirs.”They’re quite a team,” said investigator Michel Malecot. “But they made some mistakes”, he said, notably by leaving DNA that allowed investigators to identify them. – ‘Crying hysterically’ -Sixty-eight-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, has admitted to tying up Kardashian but denies being the mastermind behind the robbery.Another suspect in the dock, 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, later wrote a book about the heist.In it he describes how his bag became caught in the wheel of his escape vehicle, a bicycle, causing him to fall off and have to scramble to shove the loot back in the bag.Investigators said a man called Gary Madar, the brother of Kardashian’s driver in Paris, tipped the suspects off that Kardashian was “in French territory”.This allegation has been ridiculed by Madar’s lawyer, who remarked that 350 million online followers were already aware of the star’s whereabouts.The night of the robbery could have gone very differently had Kardashian joined her sister Kourtney and gone clubbing, an idea she entertained before deciding to stay in the hotel, the court heard last week.Her designated driver, Michael Madar — whose company was billing the Kardashian/West couple up to 400,000 euros per year to provide security — had been working non-stop for 21 hours and asked a colleague to replace him for the trip to the night club.The replacement, Mohammed Q., and a Kardashian bodyguard, Pascal D., rushed back to the hotel after Kardashian tried to call them and then failed to pick up her phone when they called back.”I saw that the lift was on the first floor, where Kim was staying,” Pascal D. told the court.When he found her, Kardashian “was in a terrible state. She was crying hysterically”, he told the court. “I asked what had happened, and she said she’d been robbed.”Kardashian, her lawyers said, “is genuinely grateful” for the way the French authorities have handled the investigation, showing her “the utmost respect and consideration”.The US celebrity, sometimes described as being “famous for being famous”, became well known in the early 2000s through TV reality shows, before launching fashion brands and appearing in a number of films.She is among the world’s most followed people on Instagram and X. She has been named among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, and among the most powerful women by Fortune magazine.The trial is set to close on May 23.burs/jh/sjw/gil

President Donald Trump said Monday he would slash drug prices by 59 percent, a day after he unveiled a new policy on pharmaceuticals in the United States.”DRUG PRICES TO BE CUT BY 59%, PLUS! Gasoline, Energy, Groceries, and all other costs, DOWN. NO INFLATION!!!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.The announcement came after the president said Sunday he planned to sign an executive order that would reduce US prescription drug prices “almost immediately” by between 30 and 80 percent. He added that he would sign the executive order bringing the new policy into effect at 9:00 am (1300 GMT) on Monday. Trump said he planned to institute a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S” policy that pinned the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug. The reduction in prescription drug costs in the United States would, he added, be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries.”Most favored nation” status is a World Trade Organization rule that aims to prevent discrimination between a country and its trading partners, levelling the playing field for international trade. This is not the first time that Trump has attempted to lower US drug prices. During his first 2017-2021 term in office, he announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices but his plans failed in the face of strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. Last month, the US president signed an executive order aiming to lower crippling drug prices by giving states more leeway to bargain-hunt abroad and improving the process for price negotiations.

Russia fired more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said Monday as it awaits the Kremlin’s response to Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin this week.Ukraine and its allies urged Moscow to agree to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday, but Putin came back with a counter-proposal for direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on Thursday.The Kremlin is yet to respond to Zelensky’s apparent acceptance of the offer, with the Ukrainian leader upping the stakes by saying he would be “waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. Personally.”The prospect of direct Russia-Ukraine talks on ending the war — the first since the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion — has been welcomed by Washington and across Europe.But Moscow appeared to have rejected the call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire — that Zelensky had earlier on Sunday presented as a precondition to the Istanbul talks — with a wave of fresh drone attacks.”From 11:00 pm on May 11, the enemy attacked with 108 Shaheds and other types of drones,” the Ukraine air force said, adding that “as of 08:30 am, 55 drones were confirmed downed.”Overnight attacks in the east killed one person and wounded six, damaging railways infrastructure and residential buildings, local officials said.”Ceasefire proposals are being ignored, and the enemy continues attacks on railway infrastructure,” Ukrainian national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said.US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to stop trying to mediate a peace deal if he does not see compromises from both sides, has called for them to sit down immediately.”President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on Sunday.”Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” he added.- ‘Root causes’ -Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded in February 2022.Russia’s army controls around one-fifth of the country, including the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.Putin said any direct talks with Ukraine should focus on the “root causes” of the conflict, and said he did not “exclude” a possible ceasefire coming out of any talks in Istanbul.Russia’s references to the “root causes” of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for its invasion.They include pledges to “de-Nazify” and de-militarise Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country’s east and push back against NATO expansion.Kyiv and the West have rejected all of them, saying Russia’s invasion is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul in March 2022 aimed at halting the conflict but did not strike a deal.Contact between the warring sides has been extremely limited since, mainly dedicated to humanitarian issues like prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of killed soldiers’ bodies.EU leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, welcomed the prospect of direct talks, but pressed Russia to agree to a ceasefire first.”First the weapons must be silenced, then the discussions can begin,” Merz said on Sunday.Russia’s key ally China on Monday called for a “binding peace agreement” that was “acceptable to all parties.”Elsewhere on the front lines, Russia’s army said it had captured a small village in the eastern Donetsk region, while Moscow-backed authorities said four people were killed in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region over the last 24 hours.

Opening statements are expected Monday in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music mogul accused of committing years of chilling abuse.Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty on all counts, which include a racketeering charge alleging the hip-hop pioneer was the leader of a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties by use of force, threats and violence.The panel of 12 jurors and six alternates responsible for determining Combs’s fate are set to be finalized first thing Monday, a process pushed back after Judge Arun Subramanian voiced concern candidates might get “cold feet” over the weekend.Last week potential jurors were vetted including on their ability to fairly hear evidence from hip-hop artists, sex workers and people involved in the use and distribution of drugs.The selected jurors will remain anonymous, but not sequestered — meaning they must individually ensure they stay away from media coverage and social media commentary about the high-profile case.Combs, who was for decades one of music’s powerhouse figures, now appears aged, his once jet-black hair now gray. He is allowed to wear civilian clothing for the trial.If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in ushering hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors allege he held sex parties — also known as “freak-offs” — that were coercive and criminal.But his defense lawyers say the events were in fact entirely consensual, and simply part of Combs’s “swinger” lifestyle.- Familiarity with the case -Core to the case against Combs is his relationship with his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to be a key trial witness.A disturbing surveillance video from 2016 shows Combs physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel.It is unclear how much of the CNN video will be shown to jurors as evidence — the footage’s quality has been a sticking point between the opposing legal teams — but Subramanian has ruled that at least some of it will be admissible.But it has been widely broadcast both in media reports and across social media channels.Some potentials for the jury told the court they had seen that video. One prospective panelist — who was dismissed — described the video as “damning.”Another was sent home after saying that his wife, a former attorney, had told him about taking depositions related to a deadly crowd crush at an event organized by Combs in 1991.”She found his behavior disturbing, she does not like him,” said the man.But others said they believed they could still assess the evidence fairly despite already having seen the video.The proceedings are expected to last eight to 10 weeks.

Deep in the bowels of the UN headquarters, a pump sucks in huge amounts of water from the East River to help cool the complex with an old but energy-efficient mechanism.As more and more people want to stay cool in a planet that is steadily heating up, energy experts point to this kind of water-based system as a good alternative to air conditioning. But in many cases they are hard to set up.The system has been part of the New York complex since it opened in the 1950s, chief building engineer Michael Martini told AFP during a tour of the cooling equipment.The system, overhauled with the rest of the complex from 2008 to 2014, cools the UN center using less energy than a conventional air conditioning system. UN policy is to bring the air temperature down to about 24 degrees Celsius, or 75 degrees Fahrenheit.In summer in New York, the river running beside the UN headquarters — it is actually a salt water estuary — stays much cooler than the surrounding air, which can reach 100 degrees. So cooling the building eats up less energy.As many as 26,000 liters per minute (7,000 gallons) of water flow through fiber glass pipes to the complex’s cooling plant, which uses it and a refrigerant gas to produce cold.The system has two independent loops to prevent contamination of the water that flows back into the river at a higher temperature, said the head of the cooling system, David Lindsay.Looking at the gleaming glass tower of the UN headquarters and the dome of the General Assembly, you would never know that the East River serves this purpose for the UN and is more than just part of the scenery.The UN’s New York headquarters is not its only building that depends on water.In Geneva, its Palais de Nations features a cooling system that uses water from Lake Geneva. And the UN City complex in Copenhagen, which houses 10 UN agencies, depends on cold seawater that almost eliminates the need for electricity to cool the place.This a huge benefit compared to the estimated two billion air conditioning units installed around a world.- Why so rare? -With the number of air conditioners due to increase so as to help people who are more and more exposed to dangerous temperatures, energy consumption for the purpose of cooling has already tripled since 1990, says the International Energy Agency, which wants more efficient systems.Examples of these are centralized air conditioning networks using electricity, geothermal systems or ones that use water, like the UN complex in New York.This latter system “has not been deployed as much as it should be for the issues we face today,” said Lily Riahi, coordinator of Cool Coalition, a grouping of states, cities and companies under the aegis of the United Nations.Some big organizations have been able to run such systems on their own, like the United Nations or Cornell University in New York State, which relies on water from Lake Cayuga.But for the most part these systems require a lot of coordination among multiple stakeholders, said Riahi.”We know it’s technically possible, and we know actually there are many cases that prove the economics as well,” said Rob Thornton, president of the International District Energy Association, which helps develop district cooling and heating networks.”But it requires someone, some agent, whether it’s a champion, a city, or a utility or someone, to actually undertake the aggregation of the market,” he said.”The challenge is just gathering and aggregating the customers to the point where there’s enough, where the risk can be managed,” Thornton said.He cited Paris as an example, which uses the Seine River to run Europe’s largest water-based cooling grid.These networks allow for the reduced use toxic substances as coolants, and lower the risk of leaks.And they avoid emissions of hot air — like air conditioning units spew — into cities already enduring heat waves. But hot water from cooling units, when dumped back into rivers and other bodies of water, is dangerous for aquatic ecosystems, environmentalists say.”This challenge is quite small, compared to the discharge from nuclear plants,” said Riahi, adding the problem can be addressed by setting a temperate limit on this water.

Donald Trump on Sunday defended plans to receive a new Air Force One as a gift, after reports he will accept a luxury Boeing jet from Qatar despite strict rules on presents for US presidents.Calling the plane a “flying palace,” ABC News, which first reported the story, said the Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet gifted from the Qatari royal family would possibly be the most expensive gift ever received by the American government.The controversy around the jet — and Trump’s boast that it was coming “free of charge” — builds on questions the US leader is facing over potential conflicts of interest with his family businesses and use of public office.In a social media post late Sunday that made no mention of Qatar, Trump went on the offensive to claim the plane was a temporary “gift” that would go to the Defence Department, and would replace an existing four-decade-old model.Trump, 78, said the process was unfolding as a “transparent transaction” but did not specify whether any party was receiving something in return, and instead blamed Democrats for wanting to cash out on a new Air Force One unnecessarily.Qatar swiftly sought to downplay the uproar, saying reports describing the jet as a gift “are inaccurate.”- Ethical, legal questions -“The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense,” said Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to Washington, stressing that no decision had been made.The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the emoluments clause.But Trump would skirt the law by handing the jet to his presidential library after he leaves office.The plan is to be announced as Trump travels to three Middle East countries this week, including Qatar, reported ABC and The New York Times.Acceptance of the gift has raised ethical questions from both sides of the political aisle as it appears to flout laws set up to stanch government corruption.Laura Loomer, a far-right ally of Trump, said accepting Qatar’s plane would be a “stain” on the administration.”We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits,” she posted on X. “The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members.”The White House and Department of Justice, however, believe the gift is legal and not a bribe because it is not given in exchange for any particular favor or action, sources told ABC.And it is not unconstitutional, they say, because it will first be passed to the US Air Force before being turned over to the presidential library, thereby never being gifted to an individual.- ‘Wildly illegal’ -The Democratic National Committee said the move was proof of Trump using the White House for personal financial gain.”While working families brace for higher costs and empty shelves, Trump is still focusing on enriching himself and his billionaire backers,” the DNC said in an email to supporters.Multiple Democratic lawmakers blasted the plan.Senator Chris Murphy called it “wildly illegal,” while Representative Kelly Morrison said such a gift amounts to “corruption in plain sight” and an unethical, unconstitutional “bribe.”The US president has long been unhappy with the Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft.Earlier this year Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new models.The aerospace giant agreed in 2018 to supply two 747-8 aircraft by the end of 2024 for $3.9 billion — both ready to transport whoever occupied the White House at that time.But a subcontractor went bankrupt and the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production, forcing Boeing to push back delivery to 2027 and 2028.Although the plane the Qataris are offering is reportedly over 10 years old, a new Boeing 747-8 costs around $400 million, experts said.The aircraft must additionally be outfitted with extensive communications and security upgrades before it becomes Air Force One.

Holding an oversized carrot, a brawny, shirtless man promotes a supplement he claims can enlarge male genitalia — one of countless AI-generated videos on TikTok peddling unproven sexual treatments.The rise of generative AI has made it easy — and financially lucrative — to mass-produce such videos with minimal human oversight, often featuring fake celebrity endorsements of bogus and potentially harmful products.In some TikTok videos, carrots are used as a euphemism for male genitalia, apparently to evade content moderation policing sexually explicit language.”You would notice that your carrot has grown up,” the muscled man says in a robotic voice in one video, directing users to an online purchase link.”This product will change your life,” the man adds, claiming without evidence that the herbs used as ingredients boost testosterone and send energy levels “through the roof.”The video appears to be AI-generated, according to a deepfake detection service recently launched by the Bay Area-headquartered firm Resemble AI, which shared its results with AFP.”As seen in this example, misleading AI-generated content is being used to market supplements with exaggerated or unverified claims, potentially putting consumers’ health at risk,” Zohaib Ahmed, Resemble AI’s chief executive and co-founder, told AFP.”We’re seeing AI-generated content weaponized to spread false information.”- ‘Cheap way’ -The trend underscores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence have fueled what researchers call an AI dystopia, a deception-filled online universe designed to manipulate unsuspecting users into buying dubious products.They include everything from unverified — and in some cases, potentially harmful — dietary supplements to weight loss products and sexual remedies.”AI is a useful tool for grifters looking to create large volumes of content slop for a low cost,” misinformation researcher Abbie Richards told AFP.”It’s a cheap way to produce advertisements,” she added.Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech, has observed a surge of “AI doctor” avatars and audio tracks on TikTok that promote questionable sexual remedies.Some of these videos, many with millions of views, peddle testosterone-boosting concoctions made from ingredients such as lemon, ginger and garlic.More troublingly, rapidly evolving AI tools have enabled the creation of deepfakes impersonating celebrities such as actress Amanda Seyfried and actor Robert De Niro.”Your husband can’t get it up?” Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appears to ask in a TikTok video promoting a prostate supplement.But the clip is a deepfake, using Fauci’s likeness.- ‘Pernicious’ -Many manipulated videos are created from existing ones, modified with AI-generated voices and lip-synced to match what the altered voice says.”The impersonation videos are particularly pernicious as they further degrade our ability to discern authentic accounts online,” Mantzarlis said.Last year, Mantzarlis discovered hundreds of ads on YouTube featuring deepfakes of celebrities — including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Mike Tyson — promoting supplements branded as erectile dysfunction cures.The rapid pace of generating short-form AI videos means that even when tech platforms remove questionable content, near-identical versions quickly reappear — turning moderation into a game of whack-a-mole.Researchers say this creates unique challenges for policing AI-generated content, requiring novel solutions and more sophisticated detection tools.AFP’s fact checkers have repeatedly debunked scam ads on Facebook promoting treatments — including erectile dysfunction cures — that use fake endorsements by Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and former US cabinet member.Yet many users still consider the endorsements legitimate, illustrating the appeal of deepfakes. “Scammy affiliate marketing schemes and questionable sex supplements have existed for as long as the internet and before,” Mantzarlis said.”As with every other bad thing online, generative AI has made this abuse vector cheaper and quicker to deploy at scale.”

A renewed push in Texas to ban Chinese and other non-citizens from purchasing property is almost across the finish line, prompting protests by opponents who claim the measure will stoke discrimination against minorities.The legislation previously failed in 2023, but has gained new steam in the Republican-led state since President Donald Trump’s return to office on a stark anti-immigration and anti-China agenda.The Texas bill, SB 17, bans most non-citizens from countries deemed by the United States to be national security threats from purchasing any property.That list currently includes China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, but a recent amendment allows Governor Greg Abbott — a close Trump ally — the freedom to add other countries.A sponsor of the bill, State Representative Cole Hefner, claimed the push “is about securing Texas land and natural resources… (from) adversarial nations and oppressive regimes that wish to do us harm.”Hundreds of protesters on Saturday took to the streets in the capital Austin, carrying posters reading “stop the hate” and “housing is a human right.””If you make a law targeting certain people just because of their origin, their country where they come from, that’s racist. This is a racist bill,” said Alice Yi, co-founder of Asian Texans for Justice.”This is our country too,” the 68-year-old added.According to US Census data, Asians represented roughly six percent of the Texas population in 2023 — 1.7 million people out of 31.3 million — but were the fastest growing group in the state.”Not everybody is a spy, not everybody here is associated with… the home country,” said Eileen Huang, 42, with the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition.”A lot of people, they flee from the home country. Why? Because they don’t agree” with the country’s leadership, she added.The top Democrat in the Texas House, Representative Gene Wu, argued that exemptions for lawful permanent residents did not go far enough.”They’ve accepted green card holders and citizens, but the problem is you cannot become a green card holder or a citizen if you do not have a way to show that you can live here permanently,” he told AFP.Wu, who was born in China, said “people don’t know the difference between Asian people, they just see an Asian face.””What this will mean is across the board discrimination against all Asians.”SB 17 passed the House on Friday with several amendments, and must now be passed again in the Senate.With mounting political and economic tensions between Washington and Beijing in recent years, similar bans targeting Chinese land ownership have popped up in multiple other states.Texas itself passed a law in 2021 to bans companies from several nations, including China, from connecting to the power grid.The legislation was passed to block Chinese mogul Sun Guangxin from building a large wind farm in the state.

President Donald Trump unveiled plans Sunday for a new policy on pharmaceuticals he claimed would reduce US prescription drug prices by between 30 and 80 percent. “They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” Trump wrote in a social media post, adding he planned to sign an executive order bringing the new policy into effect at 9:00 am (1300 GMT) on Monday. Trump said he planned to institute a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S” policy that pinned the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug. The reduction in prescription drug costs in the United States would, he added, be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries.”Most favored nation” status is a World Trade Organization rule that aims to prevent discrimination between a country and its trading partners, levelling the playing field for international trade. The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for details of the plan.This is not the first time that Trump has attempted to lower US drug prices. During his first 2017-2021 term in office, he announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices but his plans failed in the face of strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. Last month, the US president signed an executive order aiming to lower crippling drug prices by giving states more leeway to bargain-hunt abroad and improving the process for price negotiations.

Donald Trump plans to accept a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family for use as Air Force One and then continue flying in it after his tenure, despite strict rules on US presidential gifts, media reported Sunday.Calling the plane a “flying palace,” ABC News, which first reported the story, said the Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet would possibly be the most expensive gift ever received by the American government.Qatar swiftly sought to downplay the uproar, saying reports describing the jet as a gift “are inaccurate.””The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense,” said Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to Washington, stressing that no decision had been made.The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the emoluments clause.But Trump would skirt the law by handing the jet to his presidential library after he leaves office.The plan is to be announced as Trump travels to three Middle East countries this week, including Qatar, reported ABC and The New York Times.Acceptance of the gift has raised ethical questions from both sides of the political aisle as it appears to flout laws set up to stanch government corruption.Laura Loomer, a far-right ally of Trump, said accepting Qatar’s plane would be a “stain” on the administration.”We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits,” she posted on X. “The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members.”The White House and Department of Justice, however, believe the gift is legal and not a bribe because it is not given in exchange for any particular favor or action, sources told ABC.And it is not unconstitutional, they say, because it will first be passed to the US Air Force before being turned over to the presidential library, thereby never being gifted to an individual.The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.- ‘Wildly illegal’ -The Democratic National Committee said the move was proof of Trump using the White House for personal financial gain.”While working families brace for higher costs and empty shelves, Trump is still focusing on enriching himself and his billionaire backers,” the DNC said in an email to supporters.Multiple Democratic lawmakers blasted the plan.Senator Chris Murphy called it “wildly illegal,” while Representative Kelly Morrison said such a gift amounts to “corruption in plain sight” and an unethical “bribe” forbidden by the US Constitution.Trump reportedly toured the Qatari-owned jet in February when it was parked at the Palm Beach International Airport.The US president has long been unhappy with the Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft.Earlier this year Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new models.The aerospace giant agreed in 2018 to supply two 747-8 aircraft by the end of 2024 for $3.9 billion — both ready to transport whoever occupied the White House at that time.But a subcontractor went bankrupt and the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production, forcing Boeing to push back delivery to 2027 and 2028.Although the plane the Qataris are offering is reportedly over 10 years old, a new Boeing 747-8 costs around $400 million, experts said.The aircraft must additionally be outfitted with extensive communications and security upgrades before it becomes Air Force One.