President Donald Trump will reportedly accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family and upgrade it to use as Air Force One, according to multiple reports.
ABC News reports that Trump plans to use the plane as a new Air Force One until he leaves office, then continue flying it for personal use.
According to The New York Times, the jumbo jet could be the biggest foreign gift ever received by the U.S. government, raising serious ethical questions. New Boeing 747-800s cost roughly $400 million.
The New York Times reports that the luxury plane will be a gift to Trump’s presidential library so he can continue to use it after he leaves office. It’s expected to be announced during his trip to the Middle East this week, reports say. Trump plans to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the first extended foreign travel of his second term.
Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as president, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it.
But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, an unnamed former U.S. official told The Associated Press.
The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.
The Qatari government acknowledged discussions between the two countries about “the possible transfer” of a plane to be used temporarily as Trump’s Air Force One, but denied that the jet “is being gifted” or that a final decision had been made.
National security analyst Hal Kempfer joins LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall to discuss.
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