The US Air Force has accepted a Boeing 747-8 that the Qatari government has gifted to President Donald Trump in a deal shrouded in questions over ethics, logistics, and presidential propriety.
Official: US Air Force Accepts Qatari 747-8, Plans To Retrofit To Create Air Force One For Trump
The Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accepted the jet from the Qatari government. Once retrofitted, it will be used as Trump’s official plane, then transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation when Trump leaves office. This is the same plane that Trump personally inspected in Florida earlier this year.
> Read More: “I’m Not Happy With Boeing!” Trump Goes Plane Shopping Due To Air Force One Delays
I think every reasonable person would be applauding President Trump had he simply secured the jet at no cost to US taxpayers from Qatar so that he and future US presidents could use it. But that’s not how this deal appears to be going down…at least according to some administration officials.
Instead, the US taxpayers will spend more than $800 million (twice the list value and perhaps 10x the real value of the jet) to retrofit it with security and technological upgrades, making it safe for presidential transport. But then, despite that massive investment and even though the replacement aircraft from Boeing may not arrive until the mid-2030s, the aircraft will leave office with Trump.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has concluded it is “legally permissible” for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring the jet to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation on January 1, 2029 (three weeks before Trump will leave office). Hegseth has also said his department found no legal or ethical concerns over the deal.
But the Trump Library will not be completed by 2029 and this is a different situation than a US President donating a decommissioned jet to a presidential library, as President George Bush did for the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA.
The problem is not that it is going to the Trump Library: the problem is timing. Why would it not be used for presidential transport and then be transferred to Trump’s Library upon retirement? Why are taxpayers spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a jet that will only be in service for 2-3 years? Will President Trump use the jet for “library” business after he leaves office? What would that entail, especially because his personal 757-200 jet is reportedly in poor condition?
President Trump has insisted that he will not fly in the plane after he leaves office and dismissed all criticism:
Specifically, he told Brett Baier of Fox News that future US presidents would continue to use the jet:
But asked about this, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The legal details are still being worked out” and declined to say what would happen to the jet after Trump left office.
And Trump also said during a May 12th press conference, “It would go directly to the library after I leave office. I wouldn’t be using it.”
So which one is it?
And if the new Air Force One jets can be delivered by 2027 by omitting certain security features (something Boeing has suddenly promised), then why not just use the existing jets for two years and save the $800 million retrofit? After all, in the same interview above, Trump said the current planes were still reliable…just old. Furthermore, if the Qatari plane is to be secure, won’t security updates take years anyway?
A Sign Of American Decline?
A warning. If you are triggered by political commentary, do not read further. While I’m making a reasonable effort to avoid divisive political matters, this is an issue in which aviation and politics are intertwined.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said:
“Today marks a dark day in history: the president of the United States of America officially accepted the largest bribe from a foreign government in American history.”
I don’t see how this is a bribe (though I understand the gift comes on the heels of the Trump Organization announcing a new deal to build a golf course and villas in Qatar)…but I do think this triggers the prohibition against foreign emoluments (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) even if the gift is ostensibly directed toward the non-profit foundation that will build and manage the future Trump presidential library.
We don’t need to spend $800 million redoing a jet when the two we have now are just fine and two more are coming in the years ahead!
But maybe all of this is just a distraction?
As global confidence in the US declines, the yield on the Treasury Department’s 30-year note continues to rise, and the value of the USD erodes, the House just passed a reckless spending bill that will inflame the federal budget deficit and national debt by extending tax cuts that the country cannot afford. The “big beautiful bill” is anything but…it’s a boondoggle to special interests (i.e., the swamp) and is the exact opposite of what fiscal responsibility should look like.
Put aside that the current pair of modified 747-200 aircraft serving as Air Force One are built and maintained to last another generation, where are the Republican deficit hawks now?
And I suspect had this gift been offered to Obama or Biden, Trump would doubtless be assailing it, like this:
But we live in a different era now, were the POTUS imagines himself king, pope, and slayer of Bruce Springsteen. It’s amateur hour at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the world is the victim. Peace in Gaza? Nope. Peace in Ukraine? Nope. Massive budget deficits? Check. Threats against political rivals? Check.
I still pray for the President and hope to be proven wrong…but I’m not liking what I am seeing and any way you slice, there are more questions than answers concerning this new Air Force One deal.
CONCLUSION
I’ve largely shut off the news over the last week because I find it all so depressing and am thankful to put my hope in a kingdom not of this world. But for all who gloat over this deal because it is “triggering leftists,” I’d invite you to ask yourself this question: do you like your tax dollars being wasted? Is there really a business case for this jet when two more are on their way? And far more importantly than the jet, do you think it is sound policy to spend more money than we have every single year, even as the cost of debt servicing continues to rise?
image: White House
Gifts to the President ate supposed to be approved by Congress if large.
Gifts to the Office of the President do not require Congressional approval. After office, the gift is transferred to the National Archives, which gives it to the presidential library or library foundation.
Gifts to the Air Force are not governed but should be used until scrapped or sold.
The best choice would be #2 except loaned to the USAF until the real AF1 747-8i are ready in 2035.
First, I find it hard to believe we’d get any service from this jet prior to January 2029. So, do we spend dollars to convert it if it goes to the library then? No, no, no. Do we convert it and use it for 3 decades or so? Maybe. The call should be made by fiscal sense, nothing else. I have very little respect for the character of the current POTUS (or his predecessor), but the bribe accusations sound like political BS spin.
There have been reports that they will not be doing a large number of modifications right away and that he will be flying this plane in a matter of months. I believe this. He has every intention to be using this aircraft without all security installs by the fall.
He just wants a shiny new paint job. It’s all he cares about.
But, there will be mods. So, a price/benefit tradeoff is relevant. And, this is the government, so “ready by fall” often translates to “ready in 6 months” repeated every 3 months.
That’s not his decision to make, so the fake news reports are false. Another diversion away from the trillions in dollars of debt the Trump administration will accrue on the behalf of the US government just like the first term. Also, a diversion away from the recession he is intentionally causing to lower interest rates (which unfortunately won’t happen) so he can build more tacky Trump slums around the world.
All because conservative men are afraid of trans people and drag queens. You can’t make this up up it is just fascinating to watch and read how the racists who troll this blog try to justify it.
The man is so ridiculous (and dangerous) that I am betting he will park it at a Golf Course he owns and turn it into a luxury Air BnB where you can rent it for $20K a night stays. The bedside tables will have Trump Bibles and a copy of his next book: Art of The Deal 2: Be Like Putin.
Since saving money is the main argument it is only fitting the library jet be staffed with Chinese crews and Russian maintenance.
A clear violation of the emoluments act has already been all over right wing media even Trumpist legal experts are against this.
As for bond yields the 7% 30 year mortgage rates are tanking the real estate market nationwide including his home state of Florida.
This is rapidly turning into a crisis as people are slowly becoming aware they are unable to sell their homes, prices are dropping, inventory increasing, markets down net worth decreases
lots of republicans now having regrets voting for Trump
Better add another 45 million to the retrofit. That is the cost of the birthday military parade. His vanity will surely want a flyover to display the new paint job.
That’s it! He keeps that model AF1 with the ugly US Airways livery in plain sight at all times. He wants this so he can rush to get that paint job on a real plane and do flyovers
Grift. The so-called Republican Party is a criminal conspiracy and always has been. It makes me glad that we in Chicago outlawed them in 1931. Now do that nationally, surround Nebraska and Kansas with barbed wire, and drop every registered Republican inside. Then start The Purge.
Kindly cancel my subscription of 4+years, this discussion is over the top.
Thank you,
You can’t bear for your worldview to be challenged?
I threatened to leave once, but Matthew offered to reduce my monthly subscription price to $9.99!
Maga is the only force in this country able to do what’s needed to keep it alive and prosper.
Democrats and the left at large are like a fifth column or caner eating away from the inside.
I’ve started keeping a list of people, because you never know…..
Hope I’m on it. If so, you’ll discover that gay Democrats can carry and use guns too.
Suddenly Boeing decides that they can deliver their planes sooner than later. What a surprise! As if Trump hasn’t played this game before…apparently thought to the surprise of many who never heard of The Art of the Deqal.
Damn. Figurehead Trump can be bought off so easily. This is a bribe plain and clear.
President Musk would have signed off in this of course
What a pathetic, useless “President”. Imagine being the leader of a country and having to rely on transport provided by another country. And this is what Americans voted in. Is America great yet?
I’m sure “he” won’t be using it. I mean, he said he wouldn’t and he’s a man of his word.
Of course, the Library will “need” to use it in their fundraising activities (a justifiable function of the foundation) and I’m sure President Trump will be involved in those fundraising activities, so he may come along on such flights, but that, obviously, doesn’t constitute “using” the plane.
And let’s also be clear, this is graft, pure and simple. Just because the Trump Administration is able to find rhetorical and, possibly, legal loopholes to make it seem like it’s not, if the genuine intent was above board, the entire enterprise wouldn’t need to have the dates and ownership transfer baked into it. A simple note that, when the original pair of 747-800s Boeing’s been working on were entered into service, this plane would transfer to the National Archives for display in the Trump Library, might raise an eyebrow or two, but wouldn’t be obviously a ploy for Trump to get himself a free airplane.