RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump said Monday he was “disappointed” in Boeing for not being quick enough to refurbish Air Force One — and praised Qatar for offering him a free luxury jet valued at $400 million to use while in office.
“We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,” Trump told reporters at the White House — noting that the current presidential aircraft is 40 years old and not in the same “ball game” as current planes used by other heads of state, especially in the Arab world.
Trump has been criticizing Boeing for months for not being on schedule in their delivery of an updated plane for presidential use.
The company’s current goal is to have one plane ready by 2027, and a second plane done by 2028 — Trump’s final full year in office.
In February, Trump took a tour of a Boeing plane with new hardware at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, and the company’s CEO said at the time that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was working with them to get the presidential craft updated sooner.
“They’re way behind. They were way behind, another mess that I inherited from Biden, and it’s going to be a while before we get them,” Trump said Monday of the Washington state-based aerospace giant.
“And I think Qatar, who has really — we’ve helped them a lot over the years in terms of security and safety — I felt they, I think they — and very, very nicely — and I have a lot of respect for the leadership and for the leader.”
The offer from the Gulf state is “a very nice gesture,” the president added, telling reporters that he would take the plane if a formal offer is made.
The plane would be donated to the Department of Defense, and Trump said he would only use it while in office — by which time at least one of Boeing’s planes should be ready — before donating the Qatar jet to his presidential library.
“If we can get a 747, as a contribution to our Defense Department to use a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture. Now I could be a stupid person to say, ‘Oh no, we don’t want a free plane.’”
“We give free things out. We’ll take one too, and it helps us out. Because, again, we’re talking about we have 40-year-old aircraft.”
The offer by Qatar has raised alarms among ethics watchdogs, who have raised questions about the possibility of a quid pro quo expectation of Washington by Doha.
Trump supporters and other Republicans have also expressed qualms about the proposed deal.
“The United States accepting an Air Force One plane from Qatar would be like Hamas knowingly obtaining pagers from Israel, a former Trump aide told The Post. “It’s probably not going to end well.”
“Nothing about getting Air Force One from a foreign government feels right. It may be legal, but I wouldn’t do it,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer wrote on X early Monday. “Air Force One should be American through and through. It shouldn’t pass through foreign hands and it shouldn’t be a gift from a King. Don’t do it.”
“If you want President Trump’s agenda to succeed, taking jets from Qatar is not the way,” conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro said on his eponymous program Monday. “… Yes, I think inherently it is bad. I do not think this is good. I think if we switch the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right. Let’s say if Qatar was giving Joe a $400 million jet for his use at his presidential library after his presidency … we’d all have been pretty upset on the right. We might have said that it was worthy of some coverage.”
“There are news reports that Qatar is buying us a jet. Who knows. But Qatar must stop buying our colleges and universities and spreading their anti-American, Jew-hating propaganda and funding terrorist groups and front groups,” warned talk show host Mark Levin on X. “Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek. It is a terror state. That is beyond dispute or their bank accounts.”
Another former Trump official offered a different perspective, saying: “No doubt [the president] loves the idea even more now that it’s driving the liberal ethics pencil necks nuts.”
Trump lambasted an ABC News reporter for asking about the criticism Monday.
“You should be embarrassed asking that question. They’re giving us a free jet,” Trump told correspondent Rachel Scott, later adding: “It’s not a gift to me, it’s a gift to the Department of Defense, and you should know better, because you’ve been embarrassed enough, and so has your network.”
“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”
Trump will visit Qatar on the second leg of his trip to the Middle East this week, which will also include stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
A White House official told The Post Monday that the plane will neither be presented nor accepted during Trump’s time in the emirate.
“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,” Ali Al-Ansari, a rep for the Qatari embassy in Washington, said in a statement. “But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”
