Surprised ? It's true ! If sources are to be believed, President Donald Trump is expected to receive a luxurious Boeing 747-8 aircraft during his upcoming visit to Qatar this week as the royal family of Qatar will gift the American president a super luxury jumbo jet for the use as his new Air Force One.
Trump already visited the aircraft which is a "flying palace", last February while it was parked at the West Palm Beach Airport in Florida, according to a Sunday afternoon report by ABC News.
Estimated to be around $400 million, It could potentially be used by Trump as one of his “Air Force One” aircraft—the term for planes designated for use by the U.S. president.
Mr. Trump’s own private aircraft, known as “Trump Force One,” is an aging B757 jet that first flew in the early 1990s and was then used by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Mr. Trump bought it in 2011. The Qatari jet, if Mr. Trump continued flying it after leaving office, would give him a substantially newer plane for his own use.
However, the most awaited next Air Force One jets from Boeing might now be delivered by 2027, in time for President Donald Trump to use them, according to a top Air Force official.
While the latest forecast is years behind the original delivery schedule of 2022, it’s one to two years earlier than Boeing had most recently predicted.
Earlier, Trump has expressed anger at Boeing over delays in delivering two new Air Force One jets for use as part of a $3.9 billion contract.
“I’m not happy with the fact that it’s taken so long,” Trump told reporters in February while aboard Air Force One. “There’s no excuse for it.”
Worth noting here is, keeping Trump and the USAF happy is very much essential for Boeing, which gets 42% of its revenue from US government contracts, according to its most recent filing.
The USAF has already ordered two new Boeing 747-8I aircraft, designated VC-25B, to replace the aging VC-25A fleet. The existing presidential aircraft, "Air Force One", are two Boeing 747-200B aircraft, designated VC-25A and having tail numbers 28000 and 29000.
Boeing’s $3.9 billion contract to replace the existing Air Force One jets has become an expensive and embarrassing scenario at this moment. Boeing has reported losses totaling $2.5 billion already on the program, known as VC-25B, since it agreed to be responsible for what has become soaring cost overruns.
The VC-25B is the name of the new presidential aircraft, the replacement for the current VC-25A, which is a highly modified Boeing 747-200B.
The two aircraft in use, which have the code letters VC-25A and carry the Air Force One designation when the president is on board, have been in service for nearly 35 years, starting during the term of President George H.W. Bush. Replacing the planes has long been a priority for Trump.
The announcement of the Qatar Royal Family Jumbo Jet transfer is expected to be made during Trump’s visit to Qatar on Thursday, following his stop in Saudi Arabia and ahead of his arrival in the United Arab Emirates. If confirmed, it would likely be the most expensive gift ever given to the United States by a foreign government.
This could be among the rare nature of the arrangement, which also raises legal questions. However, Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and White House counsel David Warrington reviewed the matter and concluded that receiving the jet would be legal, on the condition that ownership is transferred by the end of Trump’s presidency to the legal entity that will manage his presidential library, as per sources.
According to the sources, the 13-year-old aircraft will first be transferred to the U.S. Air Force, which will carry out the necessary upgrades to meet military standards required for a presidential aircraft.
Under the proposed legal arrangement, the plane must be handed over to Trump’s presidential library no later than Jan. 1, 2029, toward the end of his second term. The sources emphasized that any costs associated with the ownership transfer would be covered by the U.S. Air Force.
As per New York Times, the plane being donated by Qatar is expected to be retrofitted by a military contractor called L3Harris, in Texas, and that work can begin once the government approves how the plane is being acquired, as per the source.
It is expected to be finished being equipped with military capabilities by the end of the year, the official said, allowing Mr. Trump to use it while in office.
As per the sources, Qatar had initially offered to donate it immediately to the Trump library, and then have Mr. Trump use it while in office. But government lawyers said that would be a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.
The plan has been signed off on by government lawyers who concluded it does not violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution and that the Defense Department can accept the gift, as per the source.
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