June 18, 2026
Just a few hours ago, President Trump and his staff said goodbye to Air Force One…at least these Air Force Ones.
And that’s because President Trump’s brand-new Air Force One, which was a $400 million gift to him from the Qataris, is finally all ready to go thanks to your tax dollars.
In case you don’t know, last May President Trump announced that the Qataris were gifting him a 747-8 jumbo jet, also known as a flying palace in the sky.
But why would Trump need the Qatari jet if he already has a perfectly capable Boeing Air Force One?
Well, Air Force One is a specially decked-out plane considered to be the White House in the sky for the use of the President of the United States.
Air Force One is owned by the U.S. government and is paid for by you and me, the American taxpayers.
Because this current Air Force One is 35 years old, the U.S. government finalized a deal in 2018 to replace the old jets with two more modern Boeing VC-25B planes.
At the time, the cost for those retrofitted jets was about $4 billion.
Of course, that includes not just the cost of the plane but also all the special retrofitting to include the security and technology it needs to fly the president around the world.
But because of delays and supply chain issues, those Boeing jets have ballooned in cost to more than $5.5 billion, and they aren’t expected to be delivered until mid-2028.
And Trump has been angry about that since his first term.
Now, I want to be clear: no U.S. government or military official has ever suggested that the current Air Force One is unsafe or not capable of carrying POTUS.
But Trump has said very publicly he doesn’t want to fly on an old plane.
He has talked about how embarrassing it is for the United States that its president flies on an old plane.
He basically has said it’s not a good look for us on the world stage.
So when the Qataris offered a palace in the sky, Trump was like, “Yep, I’ll take it.”
Now, there are a whole bunch of ethical and legal questions surrounding this “gift,” but for purposes of this video, I’m setting them aside because you need to know there are three big catches to this arrangement.
Catch number one.
It’s true American taxpayers didn’t pay for the actual Qatari jet because it was a gift, but American taxpayers did pay for the retrofitting of the Qatari jet to turn it into Air Force One.
How much did that cost taxpayers?
I wish I could give you an exact answer.
The Air Force has not given any specifics to the public or even to Congress.
All they’ve said to Congress is the retrofitting has not exceeded $400 million.
Catch number two.
American taxpayers are still on the hook for the other two Boeing Air Force One jets that are delayed.
Yeah, we’re still paying for those too.
And catch number three.
According to this announcement from the Air Force in May of 2026, this Qatari jet is a “bridge.”
Which means this newly retrofitted Qatari jet is just a placeholder until the new Boeing jets come online in mid-2028.
So the president will fly on this jet for just two years.
And then what?
What’s going to happen to this Qatari jet that American taxpayers have dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into?
At least last year, Trump said he’s taking it with him.
It’s unclear when President Trump will take his first trip on his new “bridge” Air Force One.
Read more about the Bridge Program here.
Trump talking about the Qatari gift in 2025 here.
Original 2018 AF1 order here.
