The White House is in discussion to receive a luxury jumbo jet from the Qatari royal family.
According to CNN, US President Donald Trump on Sunday, May 11, 2025, revealed that the Defense Department plans to accept a Boeing 747-8 jet to replace an Air Force One presidential plane.
Trump in a post on Truth Social wrote, “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay TOP DOLLAR for the plane.”
The post came as a confirmation of the media reports that the Trump administration will accept a luxury plane from the royal family of Qatar ahead of his first major foreign trip of the second trip to the Middle East, which includes a stop in Doha.
As per the reports, the luxury plane that will replace the president’s Air Force One will be donated to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office.
Qatar denies “free gift” claims
Qatar, on the other hand, in a statement, denied that the luxury plane would be a gift for the US president and said that the transfer of the luxury plane for“ "temporary use" was under discussion between the two countries.
Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché to the US, “The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”
Notably, a new commercial 747-8 costs approximately $400 million. It will be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the US government, and the unprecedented move will raise substantial ethical and legal questions.
