Did Trump Let Nelson Mandela Use His Plane for Free?

Former President Donald Trump was asked on Friday about the time, in 1990, that he flew the late South African President Nelson Mandela and 80 others out to the U.S.

“The United States government wasn’t helping him. No one was helping him,” Fox News contributor George “Tyrus” Murdoch told Trump during a Friday interview on his show on the OutKick streaming platform.

“You chartered a 727 plane for their entire trip,” Murdoch continued. “How is somebody…Why is it hard for you to talk about the things you’ve done? Why do we not know those things?”

“I just like helping people,” Trump replied. “I help a lot of people, and I enjoy doing it, and I never talk about it’s nice that you bring it up.”

Trump did help fly Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid activist, to the U.S. in the summer of 1990. But as the Los Angeles Times reported, he charged the trip’s organizers $130,000 to charter the plane.

Mandela had come to the U.S. as part of an eight-city tour, and according to the paper, he arrived in Washington, D.C. on the plane and used the same plane for the rest of the tour.

The Times also reported that Mandela had initially asked Trump if he could rent the real-estate mogul’s private jet. Trump told Mandela that the jet was unavailable because it was being serviced, and he then offered Mandela a 727 plane from Trump Shuttle.

The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler also provided additional context for the story on Friday, after Trump’s interview with Tyrus aired.

“The Trump Shuttle was in financial trouble because Trump made a bad deal and ended up with too many 727s,” Kessler wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He had already put the airline up for sale and would soon lose control of it to the banks. He didn’t offer his own plane but charged Mandela $130,000 to borrow one of his unused jets.”

Murdoch praised Trump during their conversation Friday, telling the former president, “I’m voting for you now because of the man you are, not because of the policies, because not every American will get the opportunity that I had to [see] who you were backstage.”

“I get it,” Tyrus said. “You’re humble. Because you’re a father first.”

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email on Friday.