Trump boasts about passing medical test while giving response to Biden’s cancer diagnosis: Live updates

Qatar’s prime minister has dismissed concerns about its offer to give Donald Trump a Boeing jet, saying the offer was “a normal thing that happens between allies”.

The comments come after a Senate bill was introduced to prevent a foreign aircraft from operating as Air Force One.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Tuesday he did not know why people thought Qatar was trying to buy influence with the Trump administration.

“But I’m hoping that people in the United States and even the politicians over there, they see us as a friend, as a partner, as a reliable partner that we’ve always been there for the U.S. whenever we were needed,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum held in Doha.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer introduced the “Presidential Airlift Security Act” after news Trump planned to accept a $400 million airplane from Qatar.

Legal experts said the plan raised a raft of questions about the scope of laws that relate to gifts from foreign governments and are intended to thwart corruption and improper influence.

Donald Trump’s team approached Qatar about potentially acquiring one of its luxury Boeing 747 jets, according to a new report that contracts the administration’s claims it was offered as a gift.

Administration sources told CNN that shortly after Trump’s inauguration, the Pentagon asked Boeing for a progress report on the two jets being built as replacements for the current Air Force One.

When officials were told they would take another two years to complete, Trump tasked his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to come up with a list of alternatives that were already in service.

Boeing reportedly supplied Department of Defense officials with the names of its clients around the world. “Qatar was one of the clients,” one of the sources said, adding that the Pentagon then approached Doha, with introductions from Witkoff, offering to buy the plane. Qatar responded by indicating it would be willing to sell, it is claimed.

Read the full report here:

News of Joe Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis on Sunday quickly became a political tool.

Conspiracy theories emerged almost instantly — claims that he’s had cancer longer than disclosed, rumours it’s “stage five” and a misleading 2022 video clip suggesting he had previously admitted to having cancer.

Watch to see which conspiracy theories are gaining traction:

Donald Trump has questioned the timing of Joe Biden’s cancer announcement as well as the doctors who diagnosed him, while also boasting of his own physical and cognitive test results.

“I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised the public was notified a long time ago,” Trump said.

“I think that if you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said that Joe was cognitively fine. There was nothing wrong with him. Well, he said, if it’s the same doctor, he said there was nothing wrong there. And that’s being proven to be a sad situation.”

The president also pivoted to the results of his own physical exam.

“I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests – I aced it, I got them all right,” he said.