The switch to an aging American Air Force One reveals the obvious peril of letting Qatar supply the president's plane, a move that hands a foreign power with Hamas ties potential leverage over the most sensitive asset in government. This is not prudent diplomacy but another example of elite deal-making that subordinates U.S. security to flashy gestures and foreign largesse. The episode underscores why the Constitution demands vigilance against foreign influence and why the framers restricted emoluments and external dependencies in the first place. Presidential transport is a core function of sovereign authority, not a procurement item to be outsourced to Gulf states whose interests rarely align with America's. Limited government means refusing to entangle critical national functions in arrangements that create ongoing vulnerabilities. America's strength has always rested on self-reliance, not rented prestige from unreliable partners.