“The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper
security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for
an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,” he added.
The Qatari gift was also raised at President Trump’s meeting
with South Africa’s president at the White House on Wednesday. Trump shot down
the question and pushed back on the reporter who asked about criticism
around the jet.
Trump last week said he would accept the US$400 million luxury
Boeing 747-8, previously used by the Qatari royal family, as a stand-in for the
aging Air Force One fleet.
The plane — which is one of the largest foreign gifts
ever accepted by a US president — has been criticized by US lawmakers on
both sides of the aisle, who say it raises both ethical and security questions.
Numerous Republicans have argued that the purportedly free
jet comes with strings, given it will need to go through the lengthy and
expensive process of being transformed into Air Force One.
Others have raised safety concerns about the jet,
including a group of senior Democratic senators led by Sen. Adam Schiff,
who want the Pentagon’s watchdog to look into the Defense
Department’s acceptance of the gifted plane and its role in the transfer.
Trump has defended his decision to accept the jet, arguing
it is legal and dismissing the bipartisan criticism as a “radical
left story.”
Boeing has had a contract with the US government since Trump’s
first term in 2018 to replace its pair of aging Air Force Ones, two military
versions of the Boeing 747. The delivery of the aircraft has been delayed until
at least 2027, a timeline Trump has latched onto in arguing the Qatari jet
could serve as an interim plane.
But the gifted aircraft from Qatar would face a retrofit
that could take years to complete and cost hundreds of millions of dollars,
with new power systems, electrical wiring and other technology for secure
communications and self-defense needed.
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