Donald Trump has taken a maiden flight on his new Qatari-gifted luxury jet while brushing aside questions about how much taxpayers spent converting the Boeing 747 into the new Air Force One.
The president showed off the new plane before boarding it to North Dakota for his latest America 250 celebration at the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Library.
However, when asked directly about the cost to American taxpayers, Trump avoided offering a figure, insisting the cost was “very little relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way” while emphasizing that the aircraft itself had been “a gift.”
“There’s never been a plane like it,” Trump said. “Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollars.”
Along for Wednesday’s joyride was a full MAGA entourage, including Trump’s son Eric, Don Trump Jr. and his new wife Bettina, White House aide Natalie Harp, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Dubbed a “palace in the sky,” the new jet has replaced a Boeing 747-200 that was completed in 1990 and served as Air Force One for six presidents, dating back to George H. W. Bush.
Whereas the old Air Force One was light blue and white, this one is painted to Trump’s preferred color scheme, with a navy belly and red and gold stripes.
Its luxury features include plush carpets, gold light fixtures, lie-flat seats, wood paneling and a presidential seal on the seat belts.
Images posted by White House chief of protocol Monica Crowley also revealed the plane has a white leather couch with the presidential seal on matching pillows.
“You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before taking off.
The aircraft, a Boeing 747-8 once used by the Qatari royal family, has become one of the most controversial symbols of Trump’s second term, partly because it far exceeds the $50 limit on unsolicited gifts from the same source in a single calendar year.
The Air Force has previously said it spent less than $400 million modifying the plane for presidential use, including installing secure communications and defensive systems, though officials have declined to provide a full public accounting of the classified security upgrades. Critics have argued the true long-term cost could be significantly higher.
Trump has defended accepting the aircraft from Qatar as a practical solution to Boeing’s repeated delays in delivering new presidential planes, while dismissing ethical objections as politically motivated.
But the arrangement has exposed cracks within Trump’s own political coalition, with conservative commentators Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin and Laura Loomer publicly questioning the wisdom of accepting the Qatari aircraft, arguing it risks undermining Trump’s “America First” message.
“The biggest lobby in DC is the Qatar lobby. We are watching an Islamic takeover of our country in real time,” Loomer wrote in May.
The plane has also drawn criticism from Democrats, ethics watchdogs and constitutional scholars, who argue accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign government raises questions under the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and creates the appearance of foreign influence.
However, the administration has maintained the transfer is legally permissible because the aircraft was donated to the U.S. government through the Pentagon.
Despite the criticism, Trump appeared delighted with the aircraft Wednesday.
“This is considered the world’s most luxurious plane,” Trump added. “When it was built, it was built at a level that will probably never be seen again.”
