ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AP) 鈥� on Friday showed off the new Air Force One, a formerly Qatari-owned jumbo jet that has been converted into the official U.S. presidential aircraft.
The new aircraft eschews the Kennedy-era robin鈥檚 egg blue exterior of the old plane for a bolder look, with the underbelly of the plane painted navy blue with a red stripe above it. The plane’s left side, where the president boards, features the presidential seal, while the tail of the aircraft has a massive American flag on it.
鈥淭his plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before,鈥� Trump said from inside the massive Andrews Air Force Base hangar, as a couple hundred assembled Air Force personnel looked on. He spoke after stepping off the new plane in a dramatic flourish, as his signature tune 鈥淕od Bless the USA鈥� played.
He confirmed that he would be taking the new jet to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month and indicated he would be returning to China 鈥渁t some point,鈥� presumably a reference to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that China is hosting in November. His return from the Group of 7 summit in France this week was the last planned trip aboard the old Air Force One, he said.
鈥淣ow, when we land at airports in London and in Germany and different places, nobody tops this one, and that鈥檚 the way we have to have it for our country,鈥� Trump said, noting that the colors and the design were to 鈥渕y taste, I will say.”
He added that the new Air Force One will do a flyover during the July 4 celebrations next month.
The gift from Qatar is serving as a so-called 鈥渂ridge鈥� aircraft to carry the president until the new planes ordered directly from Boeing arrive. That is currently slated for 2028.
The administration a luxury last year to be used as the presidential airplane, despite questions about the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign government. Trump has insisted in the past that he would not fly around in the Qatari jet once he leaves office and said it would instead be donated to a future presidential library.
Trump on Friday said the U.S. was in a 鈥渓ittle bit of a logjam鈥� as they awaited the delivery of the new jets directly from Boeing, which had originally been scheduled for 2024 but have been delayed. He recalled asking the emir of Qatar for use of one of their planes.
“See, a normal president wouldn鈥檛 do this. A normal president wants to stay away from aircraft,” Trump said Friday. 鈥淏ut our country has to be represented properly.鈥�
The Air Force said in a news release Friday that any plane deemed Air Force One 鈥渕ust meet rigorous security requirements鈥� and that the Qatari plane 鈥渨as modified under a disciplined engineering approach that prioritized these exact core capabilities above all else.鈥� The Air Force also said 鈥渕uch of the previous head of state interior layout鈥� of the plane was kept intact.
The Air Force has said in the past that security modifications to the jet would cost less than $400 million.
Trump’s efforts to reimagine the presidential airplane , when he directed that an incoming fleet of new jets would adopt a color scheme that was nearly identical to that of his personal airplane. Then-President Joe Biden as an Air Force review suggested that the darker colors could increase costs and delay delivery of the new jets, but once Trump returned to office, he returned to his desired colors for the plane.
Other government jets that carry other top administration officials will also use the similar red, white and navy color scheme, earlier this year.
An Air Force spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, told The Associated Press that the two current planes, known as VC-25As, will not be retiring. Instead, they will remain in the fleet until the new Boeing planes, referred to as VC-25Bs, come into service, the spokesperson said.
It is unclear how the older jets will be used but the spokesperson said that both the Qatari jet as well as the VC-25As will be available for use and 鈥渢he Presidential Airlift Group will select the appropriate aircraft for each mission based on operational requirements.鈥�
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Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report from Washington.
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