Pentagon accepts luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One

[mahatmakanejeeves]

26. New York Times:

U.S. Formally Accepts Luxury Jet From Qatar for Trump

The Air Force has been asked to figure out a way to upgrade it so it can be put into use as a new Air Force One for the president.


The Boeing 747-8 from Qatar at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida after President Trump took a tour of the plane in February. Al Drago for The New York Times

By Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt
Reporting from Washington
May 21, 2025
Updated 1:45 p.m. ET

The United States has accepted a 747 jetliner as a gift from the government of Qatar, and the Air Force has been asked to figure out a way to rapidly upgrade it so it can be put into use as a new Air Force One for President Trump, a Defense Department spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

“The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement. “The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States.”

The plane, which industry executives estimated is worth about $200 million, will require extensive work before it can be considered secure enough to carry Mr. Trump, Pentagon officials have acknowledged in recent days. … “Any civilian aircraft will take significant modifications to do so,” Troy Meink, the Air Force secretary, said on Tuesday during Senate testimony. “Based on the secretary’s direction, we are postured and we’re off looking at that right now, what it’s going to take for that particular aircraft.”

{snip}

The Qatari plane, flight records show, has been in San Antonio since early last month at an airplane maintenance facility. Trump administration officials have said they are considering hiring L3Harris, a military contractor, to handle the retrofit, but no formal contract has been disclosed publicly, at least so far. …In a statement on Wednesday, the Air Force said it is preparing “to award a contract to modify a Boeing 747 aircraft for executive airlift. Details related to the contract are classified.” … Congress also has not yet taken any formal vote to accept the plane as a gift from Qatar. The Constitution requires that Congress sign off on any large gift given to the president. Mr. Trump has said the gift is to the United States government, not him as president.

Eric Lipton is a Times investigative reporter, who digs into a broad range of topics from Pentagon spending to toxic chemicals.

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades.