Trump's Trials - Trump takes first flight on new Air Force One gifted by the Qatari government

Episode Date: July 2, 2026

President Trump took his first flight on the new Air Force One yesterday. The Boeing 747 luxury jet was given to the U.S. by the government of Qatar, raising concerns about ethics and security, as NPR's Joel Rose reports.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrow. The president has both an ability and a willingness to use the power of his office, to think outside the box. Nobody makes a better deal than President Trump. We're going to do better and better and better. Nobody can believe what they're watching. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power. Here's the latest from NPR.

I'm Michelle Martin. President Trump has taken his first flight on the new Air Force One. He took the Boeing 747 luxury jet to North Dakota yesterday. NPR's Jill Rose reports on the ethics and security concerns about the plane. Moments before the maiden voyage of the new Air Force One, President Trump talked to reporters at Joint Base Andrews. So this will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built. The recent model Boeing 747 was gifted last year by Qatar. It's supposed to relieve pressure on two older 747s that have served as Air Force One, as a bridge until Boeing can deliver two custom planes that are years behind schedule. Gone is the muted, light blue color scheme, replaced by bold, red, white, and blue.

You can do two things. You can locate it or you can show it, and I think the country should be very proud of it. The gift from the government of Qatar raised ethical concerns from Democrats and some Republicans. President Trump, though, has brushed off the criticism, saying the jet will be donated to his presidential library. The gift from a foreign government also raised questions about national security and about how long it would take to retrofit the plane for its new mission and at what cost. Doug Berkey directs the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. He says planes that serve as Air Force One have capabilities that go far beyond a standard passenger jet. Communication suite has to be incredibly robust to handle any level of national security requirement.

You also have self-protection elements on board. But Berkey says some of the regular standards for Air Force One may have been relaxed in order to get the job done in just over a year. Clearly, a lot of these details are classified, but I would expect that some of those requirements were modified, and they might be doing workarounds. you might see the aircraft staying stateside more than going abroad. The Air Force said in a statement that the plane is, quote, safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies, unquote, in spite of the accelerated timeline. President Trump was asked on Wednesday how much all of this cost taxpayers. He didn't say.

The Air Force Secretary told Congress last year that it would probably cost less than $400 million to retrofit the Katari jet, though some experts say the real number could be much higher. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. A note before we go, if you value this show and want to help keep it going, a free and totally easy way to support us is to rate and review Trump's terms on the platform where you listen. In a world of algorithms, that goes a long way toward helping us reach new listeners. If you have left a review in the past, thank you so much. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.