Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as 'gift'

[highplainsdem]

Source: CNN

-snip-

After Trump took office in January, the Pentagon contacted Boeing and was told the company would not be able to deliver the new jets it was building to replace the aging presidential planes for another two years, the sources said.

The Trump administration, however, wanted a replacement plane much faster, and the Air Force was exploring different options for doing so. At the same time, Trump tasked his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff with finding a list of viable planes, a senior White House official told CNN.

After the Pentagon’s initial engagement with the company, Boeing provided US defense officials with a list of other Boeing clients around the world with planes that could work in the meantime, three of the sources said.

“And Qatar was one of the clients,” the second source familiar with the discussions said, adding the Pentagon “offered to buy the plane” and Qatar indicated it was willing to sell it.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/19/politics/trump-adminstration-approached-qatar-jet

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One of their sources said the discussions were initially about leasing the plane, not buying it.

[Norrrm]

1. Other than waste, fraud, and abuse by Trump, would it be practical?

Articles have mentioned that there are limited runways that can handle it.

[enough]

2. Such a reliable liar.

[JoseBalow]

4. It's really the only thing you can count on him for

[VMA131Marine]

3. I still have trouble understanding

how getting this Qatari aircraft is any help. Whether the plane was purchased or a “gift” it doesn’t have any of the equipment AF1 needs and it would take years and a couple of billion to upgrade it. I don’t see how Boeing could do the conversion any faster than they are doing with the VC-25B replacement aircraft they are currently working on.

I guess they could fly it as is but there would be significant risks to doing that that don’t exist with even the VC-25As now in service.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. He was probably impressed by the palatial decor

That blinded him to the fact that it was Qatar's junk.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Trump's Air Force One deal with Qatar not final, despite U.S. claims

The delay reflects lingering concerns about legal liabilities stemming from a White House maneuver to transform what was originally a sale between two countries into a “gift.”

WAPO - Trump’s Air Force One deal with Qatar not final, despite U.S. claims

The delay reflects lingering concerns about legal liabilities stemming from a White House maneuver to transform what was originally a sale between two countries into a “gift.”

— Lola Gayle (@lolagaylec.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T11:26:16.712Z

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/05/28/trump-qatar-air-force-one/

Despite claims by the Defense Department to the contrary, legal teams representing the U.S. and Qatari governments have not finalized an agreement for transferring the luxury Boeing 747-8 jetliner that President Donald Trump wants for Air Force One amid outstanding requests by Qatar for Washington to clarify the transaction’s terms, said officials familiar with the matter.

Qatar is insisting that a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Doha specify that the aircraft’s transfer was initiated by the Trump administration and that Qatar is not responsible for any future transfers of the plane’s ownership, these people said.

The delay reflects lingering concerns about legal liability stemming from the White House maneuver to transform what was originally a sale between two countries into a “gift” that Trump continues to tout as a major deliverable from his recent trip to the Middle East....

Trump initially said it was Qatar that reached out and offered him the luxury jet free of charge. In fact, it was the Trump administration that first approached Qatar this winter about acquiring the plane through a sale after the president made clear to aides that he was upset about delays of two Boeing jets purchased during his first term for $3.9 billion, officials said. Discussion about the sale later evolved into Qatar agreeing to provide the plane as a gift, a development reported previously by CNN and the New York Times......

After Trump toured the jet, Air Force officials reviewed the aircraft and found that it was “very poorly maintained” and would require millions of dollars just to bring it up to satisfactory maintenance conditions, said one person familiar with the matter. The Air Force assessed then that there was no way the jet could ferry the president in its current state.

The Air Force estimated then that it could cost $1.5 billion to meet those requirements. To then remove the military gear and convert it for civilian use after Trump leaves office could cost an estimated $500 million, said two people familiar with the matter.

trump lied about Qatar offering to give him this plane. This is a pure bribe that will cost the US $2 billion ($1.5 billion to refurbish and $.5 billion to take military equipment out)

[Paladin]

7. Hey, there's a spare $766,000,000 available to help pay for the plane.

Now that trump has cancelled Moderna's contract for a pandemic flu vaccine.

I mean, how important are the health and wellbeing of the American public, compared with a used mega-jet in which to haul trump's bloated ass around, from one golf course to another? Priorities, people, priorities...