RETROFITTED QATARI JET TAKES FLIGHT AS AIR FORCE ONE FOR TRUMP'S TRIP TO NORTH DAKOTA _ AP NEWS 3.07.2026
https://apnews.com/article/trump-air-force-one-plane-qatar-8eb5da68e95d583b14811f85e62cbcd13 of 7 | President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One — a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth $400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency.
Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted in Trump’s preferred color scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a commander-in-chief’s entourage should have — plush carpets, lie-flat seats, wood paneling and a presidential seal on the seat belts, according to reported tours of the plane.
Trump told reporters that he was proud of the luxurious plane. “You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it,” he said.
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The jet carried Trump to North Dakota to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, its first official visitor ahead of its opening on the nation’s 250th anniversary
The gift from the Middle Eastern power raised ethical concerns, but Trump saw the plane as a necessary replacement for the older planes that had previously ferried him as president.
AP News/POLITICS:
By JULIA DEMAREE-NIKHINSON, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and JOSH BOAK
Updated 7:16 AM GMT+3, July 2, 2026
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https://apnews.com/article/trump-air-force-one-plane-qatar-8eb5da68e95d583b14811f85e62cbcd1
Retrofitted Qatari jet takes flight as Air Force One for Trump’s trip to North DakotaUpdated 7:16 AM GMT+3, July 2, 2026
Leer en español
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One — a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth $400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency.
Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted in Trump’s preferred color scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a commander-in-chief’s entourage should have — plush carpets, lie-flat seats, wood paneling and a presidential seal on the seat belts, according to reported tours of the plane.
Trump told reporters that he was proud of the luxurious plane. “You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it,” he said.
The retrofitted Qatari jet is intended to serve as a “bridge” between the aging Boeing jets that have served as Air Force One for the last 36 years and two new aircraft, which are years behind schedule and expected to be delivered in 2028 at the earliest. Trump toured the new jet just weeks after returning to the White House last year and directed that it be prepared for his use for the bulk of his remaining time in office.
The compressed timetable set by the president limited the modifications to the plane. Images of the jet captured since its unveiling and analyzed by the Associated Press show that it is not equipped with at least some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the outgoing Cold War-era jets.
Jeremiah Gertler, a senior analyst for Teal Group, an aviation and defense consulting firm, said that this absence, as well as a seemingly smaller number of communications antennas, suggested that the Qatari jet is better suited to only work as a domestic aircraft.
“If you’re going on a long trip, you take the big fancy car, but if you’re just buzzing around town, you’ll settle for something less. Right? And this looks like it’s a domestic-only model,” Gertler said, speaking of the new jet.
“If the idea was to do it as quickly and inexpensively as possible, it would seem to lead to the notion that there’s less content” in the jet’s modifications, Gertler said.
Trump has said he plans to use the new plane next week when he travels to attend the NATO summit in Turkey.
The Air Force argued that the rapid conversion of the jet was done “without accepting any risk regarding security, safety, or secure communications,” but added that “several highly complex engineering modifications required for the final (Air Force One aircraft) were intentionally excluded from the Bridge aircraft.” The service acknowledged that it did not widen the doors leading out of the aircraft or include multiple stairs built into the hull of the plane.
New Air Force One
How the retrofitted Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar for use as the new Air Force One stacks up against the 747-200B, the previous presidential plane.
***
Boeing 747-200B
Boeing 747-8
LENGTH
230 feet 10 inches
250 feet 2 inches
WINGSPAN
224 ft 5 in
195 ft 8 in
Mach 0.855 (656 mph)
Mach 0.84 (645 mph)
CRUISE SPEED
Tokyo
RANGE
Washington
Tokyo
Washington
Hong Kong
6,735 nautical miles
(7,751 statute miles)
7,730 nautical miles
(8,896 statute miles)
MAX WEIGHT
AT TAKEOFF
= 100,000 lbs
833,000 lbs
987,000 lbs
Data reflects production model specifications. Modifications for security, communications and other systems may affect specifications for Air Force One.
Sources: Boeing; Mapcreator.io
Graphic by: Kevin S. Vineys
Reporters are generally not permitted to take photos inside the plane unless Trump is present. But on Wednesday, Trump administration staffers shared images of the plane’s interior on social media.
White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a photo of aides gathered around a circular table that had off-white place mats and leather captain’s chairs. Monica Crowley, the chief of U.S. protocol, posted a picture of herself perched on a leather couch between a pair of Air Force One throw pillows. Mounted on the wall behind her was a framed photo of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
The jet carried Trump to North Dakota to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, its first official visitor ahead of its opening on the nation’s 250th anniversary
The gift from the Middle Eastern power raised ethical concerns, but Trump saw the plane as a necessary replacement for the older planes that had previously ferried him as president.
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