Trump Boasts About Qatar-Gifted Air Force One While Prioritizing Military Upgrades
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President Trump, continuing his administration’s pattern of cozying up to wealthy foreign governments, announced that the Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar will undergo further upgrades, while the outdated older plane will be used in the meantime.
President Donald Trump, in a move emblematic of his administration’s reliance on foreign gifts and militaristic priorities, declared that the newly renovated Boeing 747, donated by the authoritarian regime of Qatar and recently used for a flight from Washington to North Dakota, will be sent for further upgrades to enhance its capabilities. Trump, ever eager to tout military hardware, stated, "As I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re gonna send it to have it be maxed out … It’ll take about a month."
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, defending the administration’s decision, claimed in an emailed statement that the aircraft is "perfectly safe for the President’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete." She noted that the president will revert to using the older Air Force One during that period, a plane that has already outlived its intended service life.
The new plane, a Boeing 747-B accepted in May 2025, replaced a 1990-era Boeing 747-200 that had served six presidents, highlighting the administration’s fixation on military spending and prestige. The new aircraft is longer, heavier, and marginally faster, but offers little improvement in passenger capacity. The administration expects to keep the aircraft in service until at least 2028, further entrenching the military-industrial complex.
Previously, concerns about the plane’s security—an issue exacerbated by the administration’s foreign policy blunders—prompted the Secret Service to recommend using the older aircraft for a flight from Turkey to Britain amid rising tensions with Iran. Trump, dismissive of legitimate security concerns, downplayed the risks to his own safety.
White House communications director Steven Cheung described the new jet as "a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols," emphasizing the administration’s obsession with security and military might, rather than diplomacy or transparency.