US President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One, gifted to him by Qatar, will enter service this summer after a $400 million overhaul.
Qatar gifted a Boeing 747 (estimated value at $400 million) to President Trump during his official visit to the Arab country last year.
In a statement on Friday, the US Air Force updated: “We have officially completed modification and flight testing,” adding that the aircraft was being painted.
The gifted plane will serve as a temporary presidential plane. “The aircraft is scheduled to launch with a new red, white and blue livery this summer,” the Air Force said.
The expensive gift sparked significant controversy in the United States, as many argued that it posed risks to national security and also declared it against the constitutional ban on foreign gifts to the president.
The overhaul itself was expensive: The Air Force spent approximately $400 million, equivalent to the estimated value of the plane, to deconstruct some parts and ensure that spy technology was gone and that new top-secret communications equipment had been installed.
Gen. Dale White, the four-star Air Force official managing the review, said, “Overall, the aircraft we’re getting is in the same condition from an internal perspective.”
He added that the Air Force’s specifications for presidential aircraft differ significantly from those used by other countries for their heads of state.
