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Trump gets a Gold Air Force One [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-03
I thought it was a hoax at first that had been played on the New York Post, but there are confirming news stories. With the problems Boeing has had with delivering two new Air Force Ones out of 747s, how is this jet going to be different? The problem has been all the electronics and defensive equipment.
Qatari 747.
The last report I remember was Boeing finding empty tequila bottles on the plane during an inspection on the work of one of the new 747 Air Force Ones. This was way before the emergency door plug fiasco.
Qatari 747.
Once owned by the Qatari government, it's been valued at $400 million. Add that, and all the communications and weapons and defense upgrades and maybe we're looking at $2 billion, like Trump locked Boeing into during his first term in office to the two new Air Force Ones it has been late in delivering. Boeing has had those cost overruns and they are losing money on the contract. That'll teach them. And they still have problems with their Starliner spacecraft that stranded astronauts on the ISS for 9 months. They're still getting more money for it because NASA doesn't want to be dependent on just SpaceX.
Here's a factoid for you. The two 747-8s that are being turned into Air Forces Ones were originally going to Russian airline Transaero, but they went bankrupt before delivery.
Qatari 747.
The golden 747 was bought from the Qataris by the U.S. government. It is currently being retrofitted by government contractor L3Harris. They do communication, surveillance, command and control systems and the like. They might be able to do the defensive equipment, too.
Trump canceled the requirement for the pair of Boeing retrofitted planes to do air-to-air refueling.
Trump toured the Qatari plane in mid-February. According to the WSJ, L3Harris is supposed to have the plane ready by the end of 2025.
Are all the Qatari gold touches going to be left in place? Will Trump keep those and add on to it like he has the Oval Office? Whatever happens, it will be Trumpified.
Let's work to make sure he doesn't get to take delivery. Impeachment or 25th Amendment spare us his presence.
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