Trump Force One outpaced UPS and became the first landing of the day.
Passengers on Trump Force One, the last plane to leave Palm Beach International Airport and the first to land at President Donald J. Trump International Airport 30 minutes later, had more than just aisle and window seats to choose from.
There were sofas and beds, cream-colored cushions, all embroidered with the Trump family coat of arms. “Fox & Friends” was playing on the large TV, and a bobblehead of President Trump was bobbing its head in the cockpit.
The outside of the plane is dark blue, which is hard to see due to the sky on a pre-dawn flight, but the inside is all beige and gold. The carpet muffled the sound of Eric Trump’s footsteps as he walked from the back of the Boeing 757 to the front, and his wife’s face could be seen on the TV behind him.
“There’s probably no airplane in the world that’s more suitable for this airport right now, Donald J. Trump Presidential International Airport,” he said. “You’ll see Trump Force One almost every time you fly into or out of Palm Beach.”
Eric Trump and his brother Don Jr. were among 20 passengers who woke up at 3 a.m. to catch a 4:30 a.m. flight. Spread across couches and seats, the group applauded as the pilot congratulated “the first plane to land at President Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
Eric Trump said afterward that while United Parcel Service is usually the first to arrive each day, it was important for the president’s plane to be the “first wheel to land.”
The Trump Organization did not publicize the flight, so there was a small crowd waiting on the tarmac to greet them. Unlike the flag-waving, hat-wearing onlookers who usually wait to greet President Trump’s motorcade on the main thoroughfare adjacent to the airport, this group wore suits and ties and held cellphones pointed skyward.
They were local and state officials invited by the Trump family to commemorate the airport’s renaming. Palm Beach County Mayor Sarah Baxter said the trip was like “tapping into a piece of history.”
Commissioner Maria Marino, who chose sofas instead of seats, said passengers spent the 30-minute flight chatting about other airports they had passed through. She said there was applause inside the plane as it took off and also when it landed.
“It was amazing. It was really impressive to get the lead, to get the lead,” she said. “No matter which side of the aisle you’re sitting on, this is a historic moment.”
Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice for the Palm Beach Post. Contact hphillips@pbpost.com..
