The U.S. Air Force has completed modifications and testing on a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar and expects the plane to be ready for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One this summer, the service announced late Friday. The jet is currently being painted in red, white and blue colors.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the luxury aircraft a year ago, a decision that drew scrutiny over the ethics and legality of accepting an expensive gift from a foreign government, along with concerns about security and intelligence vulnerabilities. Trump defended the arrangement as a cost-saving measure for taxpayers.
The $400 million jet has been described as a "palace in the sky," fitted with luxurious accommodations and high-end finishes. The Air Force did not disclose the cost of the security modifications made to prepare it for presidential use, but lawmakers suggested last year those costs could exceed $1 billion.
Security is the central concern. The two planes currently designated as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades and were built with Cold War-era hardening in mind. They are designed to withstand the electromagnetic effects of a nuclear blast and carry anti-missile countermeasures, an onboard operating room, and air-to-air refueling capability. It is not clear which, if any, of those features were added to the former Qatari aircraft.
To prepare pilots for the newer aircraft variant, the Air Force leased a 747-8 freighter from Atlas Air between October and February for familiarization flights.
The Qatari jet is meant to serve as a bridge. Boeing has been retrofitting 747s originally built for a now-defunct Russian airline, but the program has suffered nearly a decade of delays caused by a subcontractor bankruptcy and difficulty finding workers who could obtain the required high-level security clearances. The new planes are not expected until 2028, close to the end of Trump's term.
Trump has been openly frustrated with the situation, calling it "a total mess" and complaining that Air Force One is less impressive than aircraft flown by some Arab heads of state. He said the donated jet will not follow him into retirement. Instead, he said, it will be donated to a future presidential library, similar to the Boeing 707 that carried President Ronald Reagan and now sits on display as a museum piece.
