Is President Trump Corrupt? Three Stories.

Last month, Donald Trump told reporters that the jet donated by Qatar could be ready for his use as Boeing 747‑8 “Air Force One” by February 2026 — well ahead of the official replacement planes being built by Boeing. He said: “They say February… Much sooner than the others. The others are being built.”

However, former defence officials and aviation analysts say that deadline is highly unlikely. They point to the major challenge involved in converting a foreign government’s plane into a fully capable presidential aircraft — with all the security, communications and defence systems required — and ensuring it’s safe for head‑of‑state use, especially for international flights.

Andrew Hunter — who previously served as assistant secretary of the Air Force under the Joe Biden administration — supervised a budget of over $54 billion for acquisition programmes, including Air Force One. He argues it would be “challenging, if not impossible” to finish the job that quickly without major trade‑offs. “It would not be possible to replicate all the capabilities of an Air Force One … on any time frame shorter than what they’re doing with (the Boeing programme).”

Beyond timeline doubts, the plan itself to use the donated jet from Qatar raises legal, ethical and security questions. The donation has been scrutinised by lawmakers from both parties. Experts worry about how suitable the foreign‑government aircraft is for the president — given the extraordinary requirements for a plane designated Air Force One.

Undeterred, Trump remains optimistic. In late July he told reporters they would get the plane “a year‑and‑a‑half, two years earlier (than the Boeing planes).”

Meanwhile, the two contracted Boeing jets are still being refurbished in San Antonio, Texas. The Qatari plane was also parked in the city awaiting upgrades; open‑source tracking revealed it flew to Fort Worth Alliance Airport on June 29 and was last recorded as of late July.

When it comes to timing, experts say the job is far more complex than standard commercial aircraft maintenance. For ordinary jets, major inspections might take weeks or a few months every six‑to‑12 years. But for a presidential aircraft, the modifications — installing hardened communications, defence systems, secure capabilities — are far more extensive and likely to stretch much longer.

Richard Aboulafia of AeroDynamic Advisory says the jet might be technically ready to fly by February, but warns it won’t have full Air Force One capability or security — suggesting that meeting the schedule likely means cutting corners. He says: “It is absolutely going to be ready to start flying in February … and instantly transmitting every onboard conversation to anybody around the world who has a connection to it.” He emphasizes that what needs to be done is “very different — overhauling systems … doing what you need to do to get the plane operationally ready … that’s an extremely different job …”

Frank Kendall, the Air Force Secretary under the Biden administration, echoed the concern: retrofitting and installing required security/communications gear on a second‑hand plane from another government is a monumental task and the more modifications needed, the longer it will take. He cautions that Trump may never get the plane unless he waives many of the “Air Force One unique requirements” and severely limits modifications — in which case it might only be suitable for use inside the US.

Neither the White House nor the Air Force responded in detail to requests for comment, and the current status of the upgrade work isn’t publicly clear.

In early July, Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement outlining the jet’s “unconditional donation,” though some of the terms remained unpublished. Under the deal, the Air Force is “in the process of finalizing the transfer of registration and will immediately begin execution of the required modifications.”

Background: Discussion about replacing the decades‑old presidential planes began under former President Barack Obama. A contract with Boeing for two new presidential aircraft was awarded in 2018 at about $3.9 billion. Delivery was originally planned for 2022, but has been repeatedly delayed. In light of this, Trump looked to the Qatari jet as a stop‑gap. The arrangement triggered additional ethics concerns when Trump suggested the jet could go to his presidential library after his time in office. While Trump framed the donation as a taxpayer savings move (“Why should our military … pay hundreds of millions of dollars when they can get it for free?”) the estimated retrofit cost is still likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars — Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has said “probably less than $400 million,” while some lawmakers estimate it could top a billion.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s jets remain in San Antonio and face their own behind‑schedule timeline. Even with efforts to accelerate them, delivery is now forecast for 2027. Kendall emphasises that for this kind of high‑profile presidential transport, safety and security should take precedence over cost or speed. “The people that set the requirements… they’re constrained by their imaginations about what scenarios might occur… Those ‘requirements’ dictate both cost and schedule.”

Source: CNN