Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has found a new money pot to fund President Trump’s Qatari-backed Air Force One project.
The Pentagon has transferred $934 million from the “Sentinel,” a $77.7 billion project dedicated to modernizing the U.S.’ ground-based nuclear missiles, to fund a classified project, according to The New York Times, and Air Force officials said at least some of the funds will go toward renovating a Qatari-funded Boeing 747-8 to Trump’s liking.
Sentinel began in 2020, and delays have pushed the project’s cost to more than $125 billion. A Pentagon estimate last year found the project’s cost could grow to $160 billion.
The Defense Department revealed it had dipped into funds for the over-budget, behind-schedule project but only said the money would go toward a “classified” project, according to the Times.
The Pentagon did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said in June the cost to renovate the new plane, which Qatar delivered to the U.S. in May after weeks of controversy over the potential conflicts of interest involved in Trump’s decision to accept the vessel, would be “less than $400 million.”
However, the administration has refused to discuss anything else related to the plane, claiming the information is classified. Aviation experts told NBC News in May that the cost would likely exceed $1 billion and take years to complete—aside from the $4 billion the U.S. is paying Boeing for new planes to serve as the presidential jet.
Trump heralded the administration’s acquisition of the jet earlier this year, brushing off a bevy of bipartisan criticism that said the U.S. should not accept the gift.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump said in May. “I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
The $400 million plane would function as Trump’s Air Force One, then be transferred to Trump’s presidential library once he leaves the White House.
Other gifts to his presidential library include a $16 million payment from Disney to settle a defamation lawsuit Trump brought last year over a George Stephanopoulos interview and a $16 million payment from Paramount to settle another Trump defamation lawsuit.
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