Home World Standing by in San Antonio: the luxury plane from Qatar intended to...

Standing by in San Antonio: the luxury plane from Qatar intended to replace Air Force One

President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025.

President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP hide caption

toggle caption

Brendan Smialowski/AFP

The luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the U.S. government by Qatar is standing by at the San Antonio, Texas, airport, awaiting a specialized overhaul from a defense contractor so that President Trump can use it as the next Air Force One.

It’s not clear how quickly the plane — which touched off a firestorm of ethical, legal, political and security concerns just ahead of Trump’s trip to the Middle East last week — will be ready to take the skies with Trump aboard.

Sponsor Message

The Air Force will take ownership of the plane once the paperwork to pass it over is complete, and then the retrofit can begin, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters on the record.

The Air Force did not comment publicly on the plans, and the White House earlier Monday deferred all questions to the Air Force.

“The president, frankly, has nothing to do with it,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

President Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the start of a state dinner at the Lusail Palace in Doha on May 14, 2025.

President Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the start of a state dinner at the Lusail Palace in Doha on May 14, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP hide caption

toggle caption

Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Qatar’s offer of the $400 million plane came to light as Trump was leaving for a trip that took him to Doha as well as stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. On that trip, Trump said Qatar intends to spend more than $1 trillion on business deals with the United States, including a big order of Boeing jets from Qatar Airways.

The White House said the plane was a gift to the Department of Defense, and would go through the legal protocols required when something is given to the government. Trump said he would not use the plane after he leaves office — though he wants to park it in his presidential library one day.

“I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump said.

President Trump speaks to reporters in the press cabin of Air Force One as he departs Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on May 16, 2025.

President Trump speaks to reporters in the press cabin of Air Force One as he departs Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on May 16, 2025. Win McNamee/Getty Images Europe hide caption

toggle caption

Win McNamee/Getty Images Europe

Experts say retrofitting the plane would require years of work

But experts say outfitting a plane like this to make it suitable for use as the presidential aircraft normally would entail at least a few years of work, stripping the plane down and adding what’s necessary to make it safe enough to carry the president.

Sponsor Message

That timeline means it may not be ready until Trump is out of office. Shortcuts in the retrofit could create national security risks, experts said.

“They wouldn’t be able to install the kinds of capabilities you typically find on an Air Force One,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, describing a retrofit timeline of less than four years.

“In terms of encrypted communications, to electronic warfare, to back-up power systems — it wouldn’t have any of that in that time frame,” Aboulafia said. “Anybody on that jet would be advised to use burner phones and watch what they say.”

Nicholas Veronico, a former NASA contractor who worked on 747s and is an author of a book on Air Force One, agreed that a shorter timeframe would be problematic.

“If the conversion can be done within a year and President Trump is flying around the world in this new less-than-Air-Force-One Air Force One, then he’s flying in a compromised airplane. And we’re putting our president at risk,” Veronico said.

Members of Congress have also sounded the alarm, including some of Trump’s Republican allies.

“I prefer a big, beautiful plane built in the United States, made in America, bought in America,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has proposed banning the Air Force from retrofitting foreign planes as presidential aircraft.

Trump has bristled at the criticism, saying it wouldn’t make sense to turn down the gift.

“Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump said on social media.

“Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country.”

Sponsor Message

NPR’s Tom Bowman and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

2 military bases expand to detain immigrants. And, Israel advances into central Gaza

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today's top stories The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to use military bases in New Jersey and Indiana to detain immigrants suspected of being

New book ‘Together in Manzanar’ reveals life inside WWII Japanese detention camp

Karl Yoneda and Elaine Buchman, March 1933. The couple would later be incarcerated with their son at the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II. The Karl G. Yoneda Papers, UCLA Special Library Collections. hide caption toggle caption The Karl G. Yoneda Papers, UCLA Special Library Collections. In 1942, the mother of a toddler was

One Doctor’s Story After Another Violent Weekend in Gaza

Enlarge this image People and traffic pass the fence of the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis which was hit in an Israeli strike at dawn that targeted the southern Gaza Strip city on May 13. Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images People and traffic pass the fence

A Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashes into a school in Dhaka and kills at least 20

Firefighters work at the site of a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft that crashed into a school campus shortly after takeoff in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday. Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP hide caption toggle caption Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP DHAKA, Bangladesh — A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school in Dhaka, the capital, shortly after takeoff

Assad is gone. But can Syrians go home?

Adham Aljamous, 32, and his father Nouruldeen, 72, on their rooftop in Gaziantep, Turkey. They fled Syria over a decade ago. Now, with a chance to return, they're unsure what's left of home. Rebecca Rosman for NPR hide caption toggle caption Rebecca Rosman for NPR GAZIANTEP, Turkey — After more than a decade in exile