Recently, President Trump took delivery of “his” new Air Force One, a “flying palace” that’s a $400 million gift from Qatar. It’s a plane he’s very proud of, and despite the fact that a massive number of taxpayer dollars have gone into retrofitting this plane, it’s one that will go into his Presidential Library when he leaves office, rather than staying with the Air Force.
Well, just weeks after this plane entered service, Trump has already planned a trip on the old Air Force One… and his logic is questionable, to put it politely.
Trump flies old Air Force One to honor military, for “old time’s sake”
President Trump is in Turkey this week for a summit with NATO. He flew there on the new Air Force One jet, as you’d expect. However, he has taken to social media to announce that he won’t actually be flying back on that plane, at least for the initial flight out of Turkey. As he explained:
To honor our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft — Everybody is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first. For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey to Mildenhall, a short trip that is totally worth doing in order to give our Great Military Heroes a chance to appreciate our beautiful new addition to the Air Force Fleet!
I must say that seems mighty selfless of Trump, no? He’s willing to make the sacrifice of not flying on his new plane so that members of the military can tour the plane?
Trump has claimed that “this plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody’s ever seen before,” and that this would allow the United States to be “represented properly.”
Obviously this is about aircraft safety, not kindness
It seems pretty clear to me what’s going on here, and that he’s fibbing… to put it politely. Let’s step back for a moment. There are two new Boeing 747-8s that are currently being configured to act as the new Air Force One. They’re many, many years behind schedule, and billions of dollars over budget.
That’s because the planes that act as Air Force One and carry the president are supposed to be equipped with all kinds of safety features, and that’s a major project.
Of course Trump grew tired of delays with the new Air Force One, since he reportedly often pointed out how outdated the old Air Force One was. With the delays, it became clear that he likely wouldn’t get to fly the new planes before he’s supposed to leave office in early 2029. So that caused him to want to rush the new Air Force One into service, and the plane joined the Air Force fleet only a year after the gift from Qatar was first announced.
It goes without saying that major shortcuts were made when it comes to the safety equipment on the plane. After all, if all the standard Air Force One safety equipment could be installed within a year, then we wouldn’t see such big delays with the initial planes intended to act as Air Force One, and there would’ve been no need for this special “gift” from Qatar.
It sure seems like no coincidence that Trump has just announced that the ceasefire with Iran is off, and now he can no longer fly his new plane in a region that’s not too far from a potential conflict zone. After all, he’s only flying the old Air Force One jet as far as the UK, and then he’s taking his new one, in an area where there’s no risk.
Obviously the lack of safety equipment isn’t an issue when flying between Washington and Florida, but for international trips that go beyond Western Europe, seems to me like the new Air Force One may prove impractical. Something tells me this won’t be Trump’s last trip where he makes such a sacrifice to honor our military…
Bottom line
Trump has announced that he will be flying on the old Air Force One jet rather than the new Air Force One jet when departing on his current Turkey trip. According to him, it’s to honor the military, so that those in the United Kingdom can tour the plane, making it sound like he’s making a big sacrifice.
In reality, it’s pretty clear what’s going on — the new Air Force One doesn’t have the standard safety equipment, given that it was rushed into service, so it’s not advisable for him to fly that plane in the region, given the current conflict with Iran.
I think Trump’s new Qatari gift is the definition of style over substance…