US Edition
Converting luxury jet gifted to Trump into Air Force One could cost hundreds of millions
- The Trump administration is considering converting a luxury Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar into a temporary Air Force One as of May 2025.
- This plan follows long delays in Boeing's official Air Force One upgrade program, which faces cost overruns and pandemic-related supply issues.
- The gifted 747-8, valued near $400 million and larger than the current VC-25A, would require extensive modifications for secure communications and defense.
- Experts warn that upgrading the jet to meet Air Force One standards could take months to years, cost hundreds of millions or more, and pose major security risks.
- If accepted, the plane would be used temporarily and transferred to Trump's presidential library by 2028, with the final new Air Force One jets possibly arriving after 2027.
108 Articles
108 Articles
The US Air Force has been tasked with modifying the Qatari jet gifted to Trump. It could cost $1B to upgrade.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a meeting in Qatar on May 14, 2025.Karim JAAFAR / AFPThe US Air Force has been tasked with modifying a jet gifted to President Donald Trump by Qatar.Critics have flagged cost and ethical concerns over accepting the plane.Some estimate it could cost up to $1 billion to retrofit it as part of the Air Force One fleet.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the US Air Force to begin plans to convert a $400 mil…
Meink vows security as Qatar-gifted jet turned into Air Force One
Making a Qatar-gifted Boeing 747 secure enough to serve as a presidential aircraft will require “significant modifications,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Tuesday.Meink said in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the Air Force is now looking at what it will take to adapt the 747 aircraft, which the Qatar royal family is offering to the Trump administration, into an Air Force One presidential plane.Meink also pledged to…
Idaho Press
Trump’s vision for Air Force One will turn it from the ‘Flying White House’ to a ‘palace in the sky’
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
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