TRUMP AND HIS GIFTED USED BOEING 747-800

FOR A SELF-PROFESSED HYPERDEALER, TRUMP SURE SCREWED UP BIG with his gifted used 747-800. And, as is often the case, we’re being stuck with the outcome. Here are tidbits gleaned from reputable news sources and from my usual Internet sleuthing. 

CURRYING FAVOR WITH SOMETHING HE’D SLURP UP. More than a year ago, Forbes advised “Why The Qatari Are Happy to Dump Their 747 on Trump,” May 14, 2025: Jeremy Bogaisky warned, “The president may be thirsting for a new four-engine jumbo jet, but many governments and royal families are unloading their fuel-guzzling palaces in the sky.”

Forbes observed, “While many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: They just don’t want it anymore. The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.” 

And Trump Was Overjoyed.  Firstpost described “Inside Trump’s $400M Flying Palace,” July 2, 2026: “Trump’s team has shared pictures from inside the erstwhile Qatari royal jet…. The Qatari jet has caused a lot of controversy in the US. It is a temporary or ‘bridge’ Air Force One, which will serve Trump until Boeing readies the official presidential and vice-presidential jets, which have been delayed to at least 2027 and 2028. Reports say the cost of security upgrades to the Qatari Air Force One is about $1 Billion.”

The Secret Service Wasn’t Happy. And neither was National Review, Bill Buckley’s fabled conservative journal: Its Editors termed matters “The Qatar Force One Fiasco,” July 21, 2026.

National Review editors recount, “Trump’s first-term vice president, Mike Pence, called it a ‘bad idea.” Not even Laura Loomer, about as loyal a Trump supporter as you can find, thought it was a good idea; she called the decision to accept it a ‘stain‘ on the administration. Senate Republicans expressed misgivings, but hung together to block an effort by Senate Democrats to prevent funding for converting the jet to Air Force One specifications.”

The editors continue, “But President Trump wanted it and charged ahead, despite the terrible optics and real concerns about whether a donated jet—from a less than savory regime, no less—could be quickly and safely upgraded to the considerable security needs of a traveling American president…. The president and U.S. Air Force assured the public, emphatically, that the Qatari plane would be completely safe.”

Not the first time, and I’ll wager not the last, that we’ve been lied to.

The Gift Being “Maxed Out. Conner Greene offers, “What To Know About The Controversy and Security Questions Surrounding Trump’s Qatari-Gifted Air Force One,” Time, July 20, 2026: “President Donald Trump has said that the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One is being taken out of commission and ‘maxed out’ with upgrades after the Secret Service reportedly advised him not to use the jet on a recent international trip as a security precaution.”

Green continues, “Trump’s comments come after The New York Times reported earlier this month that he made part of the trip back to the U.S. from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Turkey on the old Air Force One rather than the new one as a security measure linked to resumed hostilities with Iran. Sources briefed on the matter told the outlet that the decision was made under the guidance of the Secret Service.”

Reporters and Families Investigated.  Tyler Pager, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, and Eric Lipton reported “Security Precaution Led Trump To Use Old Air Force One In Leaving Turkey,” The New York Times, July 8, 2026. Following this, the Associated Press reports,  “Trump Administration Sought Phone Records of New York Times Journalists and Their Relatives,” The Guardian, July 21, 2026: “The Trump administration’s push to compel the identity of sources in the form of additional subpoenas comes at a time when the executive branch’s relationship with the press is increasingly contentious. The efforts, described in a letter-motion filed by the Times over the weekend, were more expansive than previously known, the newspaper noted—and also covered a time frame that exceeded the news articles in question.”

The Guardian continues, “The grand jury subpoenas, delivered to reporters at their homes, marked a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on media leaks that free press advocates swiftly condemned as a government effort to intimidate news organizations. It followed an FBI search in January of a Washington Post reporter’s home and the seizure of her electronic devices.”

My Own Summary: Here’s a lavishly fitted Boeing 747-800 given to Trump for who knows what quid pro quo. No matter that it’ll cost a billion to make it acceptable for his protected travel. No matter that the gift is 11 years old; active 747-800s in U.S. fleets include those in Atlas Air (average age, also 11 years old) and UPS (theirs, averaging only 6.6 years). No matter that when journalists question the aircraft’s shortcomings, the Trump administration responds by serving subpoenas directly to their homes, rather than the normal business means—and less mobster-intimidative practice—of delivering them to newspaper attorneys. And then, after denying the need, saying that the gift will require “maxed-out” upgrades (the very thing about which journalists queried).

This whole affair stinks. It’s typical of Trump administration incompetence and mendacity. And no wonder that U.S. prestige around the world has taken yet another hit on something so seemingly trivial as an unwanted airplane’s unloading. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2026