The U.S. government quietly spent hundreds of millions of dollars so President Donald Trump could fly in an unsafe plane with a chandelier, according to a new report.
The $400 million jet donated by the Qatari royal family was recently grounded after security measures — which Trump himself approved — proved unable to withstand a credible threat from Irani proxy forces, the New York Times reported Saturday.
“The reversal exposes the potential risks that the government took to satisfy Mr. Trump’s demand for an aircraft befitting the grandeur he believes should accompany his office,” the Times reported.
Trump was reportedly entranced by the double-decker jet’s luxurious features, namely a bedroom bedecked in leather and a lounge with sued seats and a chandelier, the Times reported.
His desire to fly in luxury meant the 747-8 plane was overhauled in just about eight months — while experts told the Times it should have taken several years.
“Trump was personally engaged in making decisions about the retrofitting of the donated plane,” sources told the Times, “giving the final approval on the features and security measures that would be included.”
That tight deadline bumped up the price tag, the Times reported.
The government was forced to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” on top of publicly acknowledged $400 million to buy training equipment in time for pilots to fly the 747-8 plane, according to the report.
“The Pentagon has tried to mask the total price tag — including from Congress — by taking the funds from a classified budget for nuclear modernization,” the Times reported.
The rushed effort caught up with Trump in Turkey earlier this month when the Secret Service identified a credible threat from which the new Air Force One plan could not protect him, the Times previously reported.
The White House earlier this week announced that the Qatari jet would be taken out of service for what the White House declared to be “PLANEMAXXING.”
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