President Trump unveils new Air Force One jet from Qatar
President Trump unveiled Qatar’s new Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unveiled a much-controversial luxury new vehicle on Friday, June 19: a Boeing 747 jet gifted by Qatar, now Air Force One.
President Trump showed off his refurbished plane, painted shiny red, white and blue, at an airplane hangar at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, before heading to the Presidential Retreat at Camp David over Father’s Day weekend.
As Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless America” blared from the speakers, Trump descended the stairs from a new Air Force One plane with the presidential seal and the word “United States of America” emblazoned on the side.
President Trump told an audience of military personnel, “Once you see this plane, you won’t believe it.” “In fact, the quality of the wood, the quality of the materials, the quality of the engines, these engines are the best in the world. There’s nothing like it.”
President Trump called the plane “a flying White House at a level of luxury no one has ever seen before.”
President Trump: “A plane like this has never been built before”
The new Boeing 747-B Air Force One, which President Trump received from the Qatari royal family in May 2025, has been dubbed the “Palace in the Sky.” The aircraft will replace the Boeing 747-200, which was completed in 1990 and has been used as Air Force One by six presidents since George H.W. Bush. President Trump had hoped to have the new planes in service by Independence Day.
The transfer of the Qatari aircraft to the United States marked an unprecedented $400 million donation from foreign countries, followed by extensive additional work to convert the aircraft into Air Force One. The gift raised bipartisan ethics and security concerns. Democrats have accused President Trump of violating the Constitution by accepting personal gifts from foreign countries without Congressional approval.
The aircraft is not expected to operate as Air Force One until 2028.
The plane will serve as a transitional Air Force One while Boeing builds two new 747 planes, scheduled for completion in 2028, the final year of Trump’s presidency. The bridge plane, designated by the Air Force as the VC-25B Bridge, will be housed in President Trump’s future library.
“No plane like this has ever been built and there will never be another plane like this built,” President Trump said. “It has something that no other airplane, including those currently in production, will ever have.”
President Trump thanks Emir of Qatar for plane
At 18 feet long, the new plane is 4 inches longer than its predecessor, Air Force One, and can carry more weight and fly slightly faster and farther. It’s also 22 years newer than the older Air Force One.
Both planes carry about the same number of passengers and are the same height.
But what distinguishes the Qatari plane most clearly is its luxurious interior amenities, including cream tan and leather furniture, rugs, and artwork designed by renowned French interior design firm Alberto Pinto.
“The other plane is about 35 years old, and the time has come,” Trump said, later thanking Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the donation. “I would like to thank the Emir of Qatar. He is a wonderful person.”
President Trump says it’s time for a change: ‘It’s time for a change’
The new red, white, and blue exterior color scheme, which Mr. Trump helped design, marks a shift from the iconic two-tone white and blue livery designed by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
“We love baby blue, but it’s time for a change,” President Trump said.
President Trump has long complained that Boeing was too slow to complete the new Air Force One jets after his first administration in 2018 awarded the company a $3.9 billion contract to build two new Air Force One jets.
He also said that the previous Air Force One, which President Trump used during both his first and second terms, was unsatisfactory compared to the superior aircraft of other heads of state.
“I said to myself, ‘These countries respect us so much,’ and yet they have much better, much newer planes,” Trump said. “That’s a little ridiculous there.”
The US Air Force announced that due to delays in the completion of two new aircraft, it was necessary to modify the Qatari-made 747 to protect the president’s safety.
U.S. military aircraft are typically purchased new from manufacturers such as Boeing to ensure they have not been sabotaged or loaded with spyware. The Air Force said it needed to develop new procedures to scan Qatar’s 747s for safety risks and could use its expertise to buy and inspect used aircraft in the future.
Pentagon officials said the total cost to overhaul the plane would not exceed $400 million. But aviation experts cited by NBC News estimate that overhauling the plane could cost more than $1 billion because of the multiple top-secret systems in place.
Contributor: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
