A Boeing 747 is on the Tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump visited the plane on February 15, 2025.
Roberto Schmidt | AFP | Getty images
The Trump administration officially accepted a Boeing 747 jet that was offered in the United States by the Qatar government, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the luxury plane “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement to CNBC.
The Ministry of Defense will endeavor to ensure that the Jet, that President Donald Trump said he wanted to use as a new Air Force One, responds “to appropriate security measures and the requirements of functional implementation,” said Parnell.
The announcement cements the United States government’s intention to take the plane, despite the warnings of experts and corruption accusations of experts.
On Wednesday, in the oval office, Trump called the gift “a good thing” and said that Qatar had given the plane “so that they can help us”.
The remarks took place during a sometimes tense debate with the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa on the unfounded claims of Trump of a “genocide” against the whites in South Africa.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you,” said Ramaphosa at some point.
Boeing spent years working to convert two 747 to the next air force in an agreement concluded during Trump’s first mandate as president. But the project has late years, and planes may not be ready before the end of Trump’s second term.
Earlier this year, Trump administration officials said the president was frustrated by this pace and considering alternatives. “Boeing is a bit late, unfortunately,” said Trump on Wednesday.
Boeing CEO, Kelly Ortberg, told analysts about the latest quarterly results of his company in April that his Air Force One program was being revised “to allow first previous delivery while maintaining our concentration on security and quality”.
It is far from clear if the 13 -year -old Qatari jet, which was evaluated at $ 400 million, could really offer a quick solution.
Experts said that the conversion of this jet to an air force could cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars and take years.
Qatar donation has also raised swelling of anger on the part of the Democrats and other criticisms, some of which have condemned the exchange as effectively a bridge pot of an American president.
“This unprecedented action is a task at the office of the presidency and cannot remain unanswered,” said the head of the Senate of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, Dn.y., in a statement on Wednesday.
SCHUMER – Who presented a bill that would prohibit all foreign planes from being used as Air Force One – promised to continue to hold Trump’s political candidates in the Ministry of Justice until the Americans “obtain transparency on this shady agreement”.
Even some Republicans have raised concerns about potential national security risks and other questions surrounding the gift.
“The transaction seems to me to be moving with problems of political, ethical and constitutional espionage,” said senator Susan Collins, R-Maine.
But Trump defended several times by accepting the plane, saying that it would be “stupid” not to accept a free jet and insist that he goes to the American government, “not for me”.
– Leslie Josephs de CNBC contributed to this report.
