Defense Department accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump's use
[May 22, 2025]
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a luxury
Boeing 747 jet from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force
One, the Pentagon said Wednesday, despite ongoing questions about the
ethics and legality of taking the expensive gift from a foreign nation.
The Defense Department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on
the plane to make it safe for use by the president, Pentagon spokesman
Sean Parnell said. He added that the plane was accepted “in accordance
with all federal rules and regulations.”
Trump has defended the gift, which came up during his recent Middle East
trip, as a way to save tax dollars.
“Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay
hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE,” Trump
posted on his social media site during the trip.
Others, however, have said Trump's acceptance of an aircraft that has
been called a “palace in the sky” is a violation of the Constitution’s
prohibition on foreign gifts. Democrats have been united in outrage, and
even some of the Republican president’s GOP allies in Congress have
expressed concerns.
“This unprecedented action is a stain on the office of the presidency
and cannot go unanswered,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
of New York. “Until Americans get transparency on this shady deal, which
apparently includes a corrupt plot for Donald Trump to keep the plane at
his library after leaving office, I’ll continue to hold all Department
of Justice political nominees.”
Schumer has introduced legislation that would prohibit any foreign
aircraft from being used as Air Force One and forbid use of taxpayer
money to modify or restore the aircraft. But on Wednesday, Republican
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas objected when Schumer asked for a vote,
thus blocking it. He did not offer an explanation for his objection.
Critics also have noted the need to retrofit the plane to meet security
requirements, which would be costly and take time.
“Far from saving money, this unconstitutional action will not only cost
our nation its dignity, but it will force taxpayers to waste over $1
billion in taxpayer dollars to overhaul this particular aircraft when we
currently have not one, but two fully operational and fully capable Air
Force One aircraft,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
She said during a hearing Tuesday that it is a “dangerous course of
action” for the U.S. to accept the aircraft from the Qatari ruling
family.
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A 13-year-old private Boeing aircraft that President Donald Trump
toured on Saturday to check out new hardware and technology
features, and highlight the aircraft maker's delay in delivering
updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, takes
off from Palm Beach International Airport, Feb. 16, 2025, in West
Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators that Hegseth has
ordered the service to start planning how to update the jet to meet
needed standards and acknowledged that the plane will require
“significant” modifications.
The Air Force, in a statement, said it is preparing to award a
contract to modify a Boeing 747 aircraft, but that any details are
classified.
Trump was asked about the move Wednesday while he was meeting in the
Oval Office with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. “They are
giving the United States Air Force a jet,” Trump said, bristling at
being questioned about the gift by a reporter.
Trump said it was given “not to me, to the United States Air Force,
so they could help us out” and noted that “Boeing’s a little bit
late, unfortunately.”
Ramaphosa, who was sitting next to Trump and has been working to
repair his relationship with the president, said, “I’m sorry I don’t
have a plane to give you.”
“If your country was offering the United States Air Force a plane, I
would take it,” Trump said.
Trump has presented no national security imperative for a swift
upgrade rather than waiting for Boeing to finish new Air Force One
jets that have been in the works for years.
He has tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he
wouldn’t fly around in the aircraft when his term ends. Instead, he
said, the plane would be donated to a future presidential library,
similar to how the Boeing 707 used by President Ronald Reagan was
decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece.
___
Associated Press writers Tara Copp, Michelle L. Price and Mary Clare
Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
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