The new Air Force One, which was gifted to Trump by Qatar’s royal family, will be out of service for one month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said
Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- President Trump’s new Air Force One will undergo additional month-long upgrades this fall while he uses the old model of plane
- The new Qatari-donated aircraft features Trump’s custom red, white, dark blue, and gold color scheme, but reportedly lacks some security features that the outgoing planes have
- The total cost of retrofitting the new jet is unclear, though the project has drawn scrutiny amid reports that Trump plans to keep the jet in his presidential library when he leaves office
President Donald Trump‘s recently debuted Air Force One will be out of service for about a month this upcoming fall to undergo additional upgrades.
“The new Air Force One 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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, according to The New York Times. “During that time, the president will fly on the old Air Force One.”
The new Air Force One was gifted to Trump last year by the Qatari royal family. He defended the high-value gift as a “very public and transparent transaction.” Months later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved plans for Qatar to construct a military facility at an Air Force base in Idaho.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the president justified to reporters at the time. “I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ ”
Modifications of the Qatari plane took about 10 months before it was ready to be used on official presidential outings, during which time it was also repainted in Trump’s preferred color scheme of red, white, dark blue and gold.
“It was my taste,” Trump, 80, told reporters as he unveiled the refurbished aircraft this summer. “All of the planes in the fleet are being changed into this look, which is a much better look and a more appropriate look.”
On Wednesday, July 1, Trump took the first flight aboard the new Air Force One and praised the costly aircraft, which is reportedly expected to be transferred to the care of his private presidential library foundation after he leaves office in 2029.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump said, “Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary.”
“It will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built,” Trump said before the inaugural journey. “I said to Boeing, ‘What’s the best one?’ They said, ‘This is the best plane ever built,’ and you’re gonna have the privilege of flying it, and I have the privilege also of flying it.”
However, days after introducing the new jet, Trump sparked questions when he opted to return home from his Middle East trip on an old Air Force One rather than the Qatar plane he had been touting, reportedly due to security concerns. The New York Times and The Associated Press have said the new plane lacks some of the same security features that the outgoing fleet has.
Now, Trump has acknowledged that some features are lacking.
“Well, it has, it has a lot, and you know it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out,” the president said on Sunday, July 19. “So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out.”
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In July 2025, shortly after Hegseth formally accepted the aircraft and directed the Pentagon to begin converting the Boeing 747-8 airliner for military use, The New York Times examined the potential cost of the plane’s retrofitting, including its cosmetic changes.
“Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards…the techniques being used to hide the cost of Mr. Trump’s pet project are inventive,” the newspaper wrote.
In their investigation, reporters David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt with The New York Times highlighted a “mysterious” $934 million transfer from a nuclear modernization fund to an unnamed classified project that they said was believed to be connected to the aircraft’s renovation.
“It is not clear if the entire transfer will be devoted to stripping the new Air Force One back to its airframe, but Air Force officials privately acknowledge dipping into nuclear modernization funds for the complex project,” they reported.
However the president has claimed the plane “cost very little” to U.S. taxpayers “relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way.”
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