Revealed cost of Trump's 'flying palace' renovation: Nearly $1 billion from nuclear fund?
The cost of nearly $1 billion is believed to have come from funds earmarked for a nuclear modernization program, The New York Times reported.
The New York Times (NYT) recently reported that the luxury plane that Qatar gifted to US President Donald Trump is expected to cost $934 million or more to renovate, citing sources from the Air Force.
The news agency said that the money was quietly diverted from the budget for modernizing the US ground-launched nuclear missile system.
The Qatari royal family gifted Mr Trump a $400 million Boeing 747-8, dubbed a “flying palace” earlier this year. The plane has been delivered to the Pentagon to serve as Air Force One while Boeing’s new planes continue to be delayed.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement for Qatar to “donate unconditionally” the aircraft earlier this month. The refurbishment is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Although the official cost is kept secret, sources told the NYT that the Pentagon has hidden renovation funds inside the Sentinel program — a project to overhaul the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system with new launch facilities and communications systems.
Air Force sources reportedly revealed that the Pentagon quietly included a $934 million transfer for the Qatari aircraft's renovation in a document related to the program and sent to Congress recently.
The delivery of the plane has been controversial and has been opposed by critics on ethical grounds. “The more we learn about this deal, the more disturbing it is,” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen told the NYT.
She warned of the “significant security implications” of accepting a foreign plane as Air Force One and criticized the diversion of nuclear modernization funds to “a vanity project of President Trump.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Troy Meink told Congress in June that he expected the cost of the renovation to be less than $400 million. But Air Force engineers told the NYT that estimate was unrealistic, citing extensive upgrades that included communications systems, anti-missile systems, engine improvements, removal of suspected surveillance equipment and “luxury amenities” requested by Mr. Trump.
President Trump has defended the gift, telling reporters in May that he “would never turn down an offer like that.”
“I would have to be stupid to say, ‘No, we don’t want a free and very expensive plane,’” he added.
