‘World’s most luxurious plane’: Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

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'World's most luxurious plane': Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

Donald Trump described the jet as "the world's most luxurious plane," saying it was "built at a level that will probably never be seen again."

5 min readJun 20, 2026 06:23 AM IST

First published on: Jun 20, 2026 at 06:10 AM IST

President Donald Trump exits the newly designated Air Force One presidential aircraft following a tour at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (Photo: AP)

US President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a newly refurbished Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8i previously owned by Qatar, which will begin commissioning flights before taking over presidential travel duties early next month.

The aircraft’s red, white and navy blue livery replaces the pale blue exterior that has marked Air Force One since the George H W Bush administration, a design that had been in use for nearly 40 years. The tail of the new jet carries an image of a wavy American flag.

A bigger plane in new colours

At an event at Joint Base Andrews, Trump descended the stairs of the newly outfitted jet to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” “The biggest difference is the difference in size. It’s like virtually double the size,” Trump said, comparing it to the Boeing VC-25As that have served as the presidential plane since 1990.

“These are the new colours red, white, and blue. We liked the baby blue, but it was time for a change… I like the colour of the American flag,” he said. Speaking of the wavy flag design on the tail fin, Trump said: “We’ve always gone with a straight little noodle, and I never loved that. Now we have a wavy, beautiful flag.”

Trump described the jet as “the world’s most luxurious plane,” saying it was “built at a level that will probably never be seen again.” The aircraft is approximately 14 years old.

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Why Qatar stepped in

Trump said he turned to the Emir of Qatar for the aircraft after growing frustrated with delays to Boeing’s contract to build replacement Air Force One jets. He said the administration faced “a little bit of a logjam” while waiting for new aircraft, and that he asked the Emir if the US could use the brand-new 747 “for a little while because the planes are pretty old, our planes are old.”

The Trump administration formally accepted the jet from the Qatari royal family last July, and the Air Force has been modifying it in Texas since September to meet the security, communications and other requirements needed to transport the president. Trump noted the aircraft had logged around 800 hours of flight time before the handover, which he said was practically “brand new.”

He defended the decision to accept the aircraft as a gift. “A normal president wouldn’t do this. A normal president wants to stay away from aircraft. But our country has to be represented properly,” he said.

A bridge aircraft, with one already heading to a museum

The Qatari jet is intended as a stopgap. It will serve as a “bridge” Air Force One until two new aircraft being built by Boeing are ready, expected sometime in 2028.

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One of the two 747s currently in use as Air Force One is presently undergoing maintenance; the remaining aircraft will continue operating alongside the newly gifted jet. Trump’s return from the G7 summit in France last week marked the final scheduled trip aboard the previous Air Force One aircraft, which he said would likely be retired to a museum. “We’ll get them fixed up a little bit, not like this one, and we’ll do museums, but they’re great planes, they’re great history,” he said.

Sources familiar with the arrangement told ABC News that ownership of the Qatari jet will transfer to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation shortly before Trump leaves office.

What the Air Force says about security

An Air Force statement said the VC-25B Bridge aircraft had arrived at the Presidential Airlift Group and would begin its initial commissioning flights, marking delivery of a secure, modified executive platform.

Officials have previously put the cost of the security modifications at under $400 million, a figure that has drawn questions from some lawmakers and ethics experts over what was described as an unprecedented foreign gift to a sitting president.

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Air Force Chief of Staff General Ken Wilsbach said the service was proud to deliver the aircraft to the president.

Trump said the new aircraft will perform a flyover above the National Mall during Fourth of July celebrations, which this year mark the 250th anniversary of US independence. He added that he plans to use the jet for travel to the NATO summit in Turkey next month.

Trump also said the plane “flies further and faster than any Air Force One,” claiming it would rarely need to stop for fuel, and added: “This is representative of our country. Now, when we land at airports in London and in Germany and different places, nobody tops this one, and that’s the way we have to have it for our country. Nobody even comes close.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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