President Trump unveiled a Boeing 747, a gift from Qatar that was overhauled by L3Harris Technologies and is set to join the Air Force One fleet with a custom livery https://t.co/og9LfYHq5ypic.twitter.com/iwXxs9z637
“This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said from inside the massive Joint Base Andrews hangar, as a couple hundred assembled Air Force personnel looked on. He spoke after stepping off the new plane in a dramatic flourish, as his signature tune “God Bless the USA” played.
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The administration formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar last year to be used as the presidential airplane, despite questions about the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign government. Trump has insisted in the past that he would not fly around in the Qatari jet once he leaves office and said it would instead be donated to a future presidential library.
Who needs ethics and legality when you have luxury and a big toy for your presidential library?
Then, in late February, much of that activity ground to a halt. Unlike its neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have pipelines that can bypass the Strait of Hormuz, Qatar is geographically trapped behind the waterway.
Within 24 hours of the Iranian blockade, QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy giant, announced it couldn’t fulfill its contracts. Two weeks later, Iranian missiles and drones struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan plant, damaging critical equipment and causing a 17 percent reduction in Qatar’s production capacity.
The damage means that even if the strait were to open tomorrow, it would take years to return to prewar output. Analysts estimate that QatarEnergy has already lost billions of dollars since the war started, and every day that the strait remains closed, the country bleeds hundreds of millions more in lost sales and shipping charter fees.
The International Monetary Fund expects Qatar’s economy to shrink 8.6 percent this year before rebounding in 2027. For countries like Qatar, each day the strait is closed further darkens the outlook, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist at the I.M.F., said at a recent briefing.
Trump even noted this, sort of, in his speech praising the plane.
While I am used to the iconic Kennedy-era paint job for Air Force One, I will admit that I like the version above just fine, and may even prefer it (for those who think I am incapable of saying anything positive about anything Trump does).
Aesthetics aside, I find the whole thing to be another part of the parade of grotesqueries. The plane is obviously the Qataris currying favor with Trump personally. And the whole thing is about Trump treating his office like his personal plaything. It is also a striking reminder that Trump does not care about anyone other than himself.
None of this is a revelation, but it does bear remembering.
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on Twitter and/or BlueSky.
I do wonder if this ever makes it to his library and even if the library is built. With the plane, I expect that there are lawsuits waiting to be filed and if there is a Dem trifecta in 2028… The prep for the library is being funded by other donors, currying his favor, that are likely to disappear when he leaves office and probably dead.
Re the paint: I favor the Kennedy era finish, but this is entirely normal in appearance.
Talk about your foreign emoluments. @Sleeping Dog:, yeah, I bet there are going to be lawsuits. L3Harris didn’t exactly donate their work, or get paid by the Qataris. IIRC there’s 400 mil of taxpayer money in that thing. And Trump thinks he gets to keep it. The Reflecting Pool pales in comparison.
I do wonder if this ever makes it to his library and even if the library is built. With the plane, I expect that there are lawsuits waiting to be filed and if there is a Dem trifecta in 2028… The prep for the library is being funded by other donors, currying his favor, that are likely to disappear when he leaves office and probably dead.
Re the paint: I favor the Kennedy era finish, but this is entirely normal in appearance.
Talk about your foreign emoluments. @Sleeping Dog:, yeah, I bet there are going to be lawsuits. L3Harris didn’t exactly donate their work, or get paid by the Qataris. IIRC there’s 400 mil of taxpayer money in that thing. And Trump thinks he gets to keep it. The Reflecting Pool pales in comparison.
I think the livery constitutes airframe abuse.
Can a future government exercise eminent domain on the plane?