Air Force One has long been considered an enviable symbol of the political and fiscal prestige of the United States. But when president Donald Trump settled in for his weeklong trip to the Middle East on Monday, he made it clear he was travelling with a sense of embarrassment about the state of the aircraft.
“You look at some of the Arab countries and the planes they have parked alongside the United States of America plane – it is like from a different planet. It is close to 40 years old now,” he said of the range of aircraft reserved for presidential use.
Mr Trump was speaking on Monday during a wide-ranging press conference in the Oval office, in which he touched on everything from the pause in the tariff stand-off with China to an executive order that promises to slash pharmaceutical prices for ordinary Americans.
But the news that the president has agreed to accept a gift from the Qatari royal family of a gleaming, retrofit Air Force One generated strong responses of unease and criticism. The intention is to use the new aircraft through his presidency and then gift it to the Trump presidential library before departing office, which would theoretically make it available for personal use.
Mr Trump has long been fixated with upgrading or replacing the presidential fleet with something more befitting.
“When I came back [into office in 2024] I said, what’s going on with the Boeings? They were way behind – another mess I inherited. I think Qatar, we have helped them a lot over the day, I think they very nicely said ‘we would like to do something’. And if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our defence department to use for a couple of years, I think that is a very nice gesture. Now I could be a stupid person and say, ‘no we don’t want a free plane’. We give free things out and we will take one too. We have 40-year-old aircraft. And the money we spend, the maintenance to keep them tippy-top, you wouldn’t believe it. I thought it was a great gesture.”
He added that the rationale behind Qatar’s gesture was goodwill. “We keep them safe. If it wasn’t for us, they probably wouldn’t exist right now.”
Questioned about his intention to accept the gift, Mr Trump denied it would stand in contravention of the rules prohibiting gifts and said that he did not intend using it after leaving office. “It’s not a gift to me. It’s a gift to the American people.”
The Qatari government said nothing has been finalised and the finer details of the arrangement were still under consideration between the respective defence departments. Apart from the ethical and legal implications of the gift, the prospect has raised the issue of internal security headaches given that the new aircraft would in effect require dismantling and rebuilding to ensure it was free from surveillance devices.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this but no, Donald Trump cannot accept a $400 million [€361 million] flying palace from the royal family of Qatar,“ said independent senator Bernie Sanders when the idea was made public on Sunday. “Not only is this farcically corrupt, it is blatantly unconstitutional. Congress must not allow this over-the-top kleptocracy to proceed.”
The White House said any gift from a foreign government “is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws”.
In a post on social media, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said “Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar. It’s not just bribery. It’s premium foreign influence with extra leg room.”
