Trump takes first flight on Qatar-gifted Air Force One amid criticism

Donald Trump traveled to North Dakota on Wednesday for the first trip aboard the new Air Force One, a luxury Boeing 747-8 aircraft gifted by the Qatari government.

The US president introduced the $400m aircraft last month as the replacement for the military-grade 747-2 that has transported US presidents for more than three decades. The gifted Boeing 747-8 is expected to remain in service until the air force receives a new fleet of Boeing presidential aircraft in the next two years.

The emergence of the controversial gift last year sparked a firestorm of bipartisan criticism of Trump, and intensified conflict of interest fears. The White House has repeatedly pushed back against allegations of corruption, and insisted such donations were in full compliance with the law.

Before departing from Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, Trump celebrated the occasion, saying: “This will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built.”

“I’m excited about the first flight. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it,” Trump declared. “They just completed it, they made it appropriate for a president – that means the security and all the different bells and whistles they put on – very complex stuff. But it’s really quite something.”

Trump told reporters: “Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollars.”

The Boeing 747-8 was originally built in the US.

When the Boeing 747-8 was first selected in 2015 to become the next generation Air Force One, then-US air force secretary, Deborah Lee James, described it as “the only aircraft manufactured in the United States” that “meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission”.

Trump also claimed the aircraft required taxpayers to spend “very little” on upgrades “relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way”. He described it as “a gift from a country that’s treated us very well”.

The conversion of the Qatari Boeing 747 was estimated to cost $1bn. It is intended to serve as a temporary “bridge” aircraft until two delayed presidential Boeing jets are delivered in 2027 and 2028. The projected cost of those two specially built aircrafts has increased from $3.7bn to $5bn.

According to the air force, the aircraft upgrades focused on operational readiness rather than appearance, resulting in the plane’s interior layout “minimally changed”.

White House communications director, Steven Cheung, posted photos on X showing the cabin, including large conference tables and leather seating.

The donated Qatari jet, which Qatar had previously been unable to sell, has drawn widespread criticism.

Opponents argued that the expense of converting the aircraft could take funding away from Sentinel, the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) modernization program that is already several years behind schedule. Democrats have criticized the gift as being the “definition of corruption”.