A Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Seaside Worldwide Airport after President Donald Trump toured the plane, Feb. 15, 2025.
Roberto Schmidt | Afp | Getty Photographs
The Trump administration has formally accepted a Boeing 747 jet that was gifted to the U.S. by the federal government of Qatar, the Pentagon mentioned Wednesday.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the posh aircraft “in accordance with all federal guidelines and rules,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned in an announcement to CNBC.
The Division of Protection will work to make sure that the jet, which President Donald Trump needs to make use of as the brand new Air Power One, fulfills “correct safety measures and functional-mission necessities,” Parnell mentioned.
The announcement cements the U.S. authorities’s intention to take the aircraft, regardless of consultants’ warnings and Democrats’ accusations of bribery.
On the White Home on Wednesday, Trump referred to as the reward “an amazing factor” and mentioned Qatar handed over the aircraft “so they might assist us out.”
Boeing has spent years working to transform two 747s into the following Air Power Ones in a deal struck throughout Trump’s first time period as president. However the mission is years not on time, and the planes might not be prepared earlier than the top of Trump’s second time period.
Trump administration officers earlier this yr mentioned the president was annoyed with that tempo and contemplating alternate options. “Boeing’s slightly late, sadly,” Trump mentioned Wednesday.
However it’s removed from clear if the 13-year-old Qatari jet, which has been valued at $400 million, may actually supply a fast repair.
Consultants have mentioned that changing that jet into an Air Power One may cost taxpayers over $1 billion and take years to finish.
Qatar’s reward has additionally raised swells of anger from Democrats and different critics, a few of whom have condemned the trade as an efficient bribe of a U.S. president. Even some Republicans have raised issues concerning the potential nationwide safety dangers and different points surrounding the reward.
“The transaction strikes me as being rife with political espionage, moral and constitutional issues,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, mentioned final week.
However Trump has repeatedly defended accepting the donation, saying it will be “silly” to not settle for a free jet and insisting that it’ll the U.S. authorities, “not to me.”
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg instructed analysts his firm’s daily habits quarterly earnings call that “we proceed to work with the client to revise this system plan to permit for an earlier first supply whereas sustaining our give attention to security and high quality.”
— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.