Trump debuts Qatari 747 as interim Air Force One

President Donald Trump presented a converted Boeing 747 from Qatar as the new Air Force One on Friday, according to The Associated Press, putting a foreign-donated aircraft into presidential service while the U.S. waits for delayed replacement jets from Boeing. The move matters because the administration’s acceptance of the aircraft has drawn ethics and legal questions, even as Trump casts it as a practical answer to delivery delays.

AP reported that Trump toured the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and spoke afterward in a hangar before several hundred Air Force personnel. The plane had been owned by Qatar and has been modified for use as the U.S. presidential aircraft, according to AP.

The aircraft replaces the familiar light blue exterior associated with the Kennedy era with a darker red, white and navy design, AP reported. The left side includes the presidential seal, and the tail carries a large American flag, according to AP.

Trump praised the aircraft’s interior and appearance during the event. “This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said, according to AP.

Trump said the aircraft would be used for his trip to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month, AP reported. He also indicated he expects to return to China “at some point,” which AP said appeared to refer to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit China is hosting in November.

Trump said his return from the Group of 7 summit in France this week was the final scheduled trip on the older Air Force One, according to AP. He also said the new aircraft would take part in a July 4 flyover next month.

The Qatari aircraft is intended to serve as a bridge until Boeing delivers new presidential aircraft ordered by the U.S. government, AP reported. Those planes are now expected in 2028 after an original 2024 schedule slipped, according to AP.

The administration formally accepted the luxury 747 from Qatar last year, AP reported. The decision prompted questions about whether taking such a costly gift from a foreign government was lawful or ethical, according to AP.

Trump has previously said he would not use the Qatari jet after leaving office and that it would instead go to a future presidential library, AP reported. On Friday, he described the situation with the Boeing deliveries as a “little bit of a logjam” and said he had asked Qatar’s emir about using one of the country’s aircraft, according to AP.

“See, a normal president wouldn’t do this. A normal president wants to stay away from aircraft,” Trump said Friday, according to AP. “But our country has to be represented properly.”

The Air Force said Friday that any aircraft used as Air Force One must satisfy strict security standards, AP reported. In its statement, the Air Force said the Qatari jet was modified through an engineering process focused on those capabilities and that much of its prior head-of-state interior layout remained in place.

The Air Force has previously said security work on the aircraft would cost less than $400 million, according to AP.

AP reported that Trump’s push to change Air Force One’s look dates to his first term, when he sought a color pattern similar to his private plane. President Joe Biden reversed that decision in 2023 after an Air Force review found darker colors could raise costs and slow delivery, but Trump restored the design after returning to office, according to AP.

An Air Force spokesperson told AP that the two current VC-25A aircraft will stay in the fleet until the new VC-25B planes arrive. The spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning, said the Qatari jet and the existing aircraft will be available and that the Presidential Airlift Group will choose planes based on mission needs, according to AP.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.