President Donald Trump’s plan to use a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar as an interim Air Force One would produce massive security risks since the administration will likely forgo needed modifications to make the jet secure, according to former defense officials.
Overhauling the Qatari royal family’s Boeing 747-8 to meet the rigorous standards required of a U.S. presidential aircraft would take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But Trump wants the jet by the end of this year, according to the New York Times—a timeline former defense officials say is unrealistic.
“There are going to be huge security risks with this. No question about it. But Trump can choose to accept them. He’s the commander in chief,” one former Air Force official said.
The plan, reported by multiple outlets over the weekend, was confirmed by Trump Sunday night in a Truth Social post, where he called it a “gift, free of charge” to the Defense Department in a “very public and transparent transaction.” A White House official confirmed Monday that Qatar has offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense, but the gift will not be accepted this week when Trump is in Qatar.
Treating the aircraft as safe for the commander in chief with just a few modifications is “absurd,” another former senior defense official said. In addition to carrying the president around the world, presidential jets are part of the nuclear command and control structure so the president can fight a nuclear war.
The administration has reportedly tapped L3Harris to modify the Qatari jet. But the project would strain an already overextended workforce, the official said, since the program would need to pull workers with high clearances.
In reality, Trump is unlikely to wait for the years of work it would take to make the plane secure, officials say. The administration will do what it can to make changes, but the jet could end up lacking classified systems, secure communications, and defensive capabilities typically required in a presidential jet, and the program might not have enough time to thoroughly strip the jet to sweep for bugs and other spy devices, they say.
Ultimately, requirements for Air Force One come from the White House. The program’s initial requirements are part of the reason Boeing is behind in building the new Air Force One jets—a delay that drove Trump to the Qatari jet. The VC-25B aircraft were originally scheduled for delivery in 2024, but delays have pushed projections to 2028 or 2029.
Boeing has said it can push up delivery to 2027 if some of the program requirements are relaxed, an Air Force official recently said.
Beyond security concerns, the legality of the Qatari gift is up for debate. Democrats and former officials have said the gift would be a violation of the emoluments clause, a provision in the Constitution that prohibits gifts to federal officials from foreign nations.
“This is an American president flying around in a Qatari bribe that he received…it’s flat-out wrong for the president to accept this anyway,” one of the former officials said.
The Air Force deferred all questions on Air Force One plans to the White House. The White House referred to the president’s previous comments.
Trump told reporters on Monday that it is a “great gesture from Qatar” and that only a “stupid person” would turn down the offer.
“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Democrat lawmakers have already blasted the deal. Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Service committee, said in a statement that the gift would be “an appalling breach of ethical standards” and “would pose immense counterintelligence risks” by potentially giving another nation access to sensitive systems and communications.
“This reckless disregard for national security and diplomatic propriety signals a dangerous willingness to barter American interests for personal gain. It is an affront to the office of the presidency and a betrayal of the trust placed in any U.S. leader to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty,” Reed said in a statement.
Some lawmakers are making moves to try to stall the deal. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on X that he would block any arms sales to Qatar, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would place a hold on all Justice Department nominees until the Trump administration answers a list of questions about the plan.
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