With the news that the royal family of Qatar is gifting a $400 million airliner to the Trump administration to use as a new Air Force One, it has become clear to me that if President Donald Trump were a country, he’d be Qatar.

Trump and Qatar have the same fundamental moral flexibility. Trump is for raising taxes on the rich and lowering taxes on the rich; starting a trade war with China and declaring peace with China. In Qatar’s case, leaders fund the taking of American hostages and they facilitate their release; they fund global terrorism while they host a huge American military base.

There’s not much substance in Mar-a-Lago or the Qatari royal palace. Trump’s wealth has always been more appearance than reality, filing for bankruptcy three times as often as he files for divorce. Qatar is the same kind of nation — 300,000 people on a speck of land. It is about as much of a nation as Cincinnati (population 311,097).

Contractors are key. In the real estate business, the subs do all the work and then Trump stiffs them. Qatar imported 2 million contractors and is famous for abusing their human rights.

Inherited titles decide who rules the Qatari kingdom. Inherited wealth decides who rules the Trump empire.

They both hired Pam Bondi as a lobbyist, though Trump pays her less and has given her a better title. Of course, it was Bondi who said this gifted plane deal was kosher.

Neither Trump nor Qatar produce products that are all that good for you, and they’re more than a little unstable. Trump’s most recent gushers of wealth come from influence-fueled cryptocurrency and the stock of a money-losing social media site. Either could disappear tomorrow. If you depend on Qatar’s natural gas bounty, your supply rests on one of the world’s most heavily-armed powder kegs, featuring nuclear rivalry, terrorist intrigue, bloody religious schism and the scars of empires long dead.

Both have a national news channel that defends the indefensible and can turn its editorial views on a dime. Qatar’s Al Jazeera acts as the press agent for Hamas, hosting a cavalcade of Oct. 7 Israeli massacre enthusiasts. Fox News delivers the views of Trump’s press secretary defending the president’s ethical compass with little question or rebuttal. Each TV channel is family-owned by a billionaire.

If you look at the glossy photos of Trump Tower and Qatar’s palaces, there’s more than a hint of a common design aesthetic: a dash of Bronx Mafia don, a little “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and gold — a whole lotta gold.

No doubt that sensibility will show up in the interiors of the airliner Qatar wants to gift the Trump administration. The idea is so shady that even a few Republicans and Trump-friendly influencers are aghast.

That will last until the Democrats reclaim the sense of propriety they lost when they looked the other way as the Clinton Foundation raised millions in foreign boodle while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and, coincidentally, meeting with the donors in her official capacity. Nothing rallies Republicans like liberal hypocrisy and perfectly justified talk of a third Trump impeachment.

Reportedly, matters are being arranged so the airplane can be transferred to the nonprofit(!) Trump presidential library whenever Donald decides to leave office. Once it is back in private hands, it can be repainted with the flag flown by Qatari royals and the Trump family alike — a golden dollar sign surrounded a bilious gray cloud.

No longer will Trump fly Air Force One. Air Shady will soon take off.

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