Making a Qatar-gifted Boeing 747 secure enough to serve as a presidential aircraft will require “significant modifications,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Tuesday.
Meink said in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the Air Force is now looking at what it will take to adapt the 747 aircraft, which the Qatar royal family is offering to the Trump administration, into an Air Force One presidential plane.
Meink also pledged to Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., not to allow security standards for the plane to slip, and to warn President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if the service is unable to address any threats as it modifies the plane.
Duckworth and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, expressed deep concerns in the hearing about the deal, highlighting the security, ethical and cost concerns it raises.
Duckworth called Trump’s defense of the jet’s gift “bizarre and disturbing,” and said it creates “at the very least, the pathetic appearance that our commander-in-chief can be bought by an ally of Iran and Hamas.”
“Far from saving money, this unconstitutional action will not only cost our nation its dignity, but it will force taxpayers to waste over a billion dollars to overhaul this particular aircraft, when we currently have not one, but two, fully operational and fully capable Air Force One aircraft,” Duckworth said.
Trump is dissatisfied with Boeing’s delays in the VC-25B program to build a pair of new Air Force Ones, which were originally due for delivery last year but now may not be ready until 2029.
The Trump administration plans to accept the donation of a luxurious 747-8 and have the Air Force convert it into a new presidential transport aircraft, potentially by the end of this year. ABC News reported earlier this month that the plane would be donated to Trump’s presidential library shortly before the end of his second term.
But some lawmakers and aviation experts, including former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, have decried those plans. Critics say the deal would violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause and amount to a corrupt deal benefiting Trump. The Qatar 747 plans have also been criticized as a waste of money and a potential security risk, as an Air Force One jet also needs to be a hardened, secure flying situation room capable of operating during a major catastrophe.
In a Monday morning briefing, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt forcefully rejected criticisms of the Qatar 747 gift and denied it was a personal donation or gift to Trump.
She referred questions about the timeline of retrofitting the 747 to the Air Force.
“Because it is the United States Air Force that is accepting the plane, I would defer you to them to specifics, because the President, frankly, has nothing to do with it,” Leavitt said. “It’s the Air Force’s project to take on.”
The Air Force said in an email to Defense News that it currently had no information about the status and timeline of modifying the Qatar 747 to provide.
Duckworth, Hirono and seven other Democratic senators last week urged the Defense Department’s acting inspector general to open an inquiry into the aircraft, citing the cost and time it may take to retrofit it into a presidential aircraft and meet the necessary security and counterintelligence standards.
Duckworth said she also sent a letter to Meink about the operational security risks associated with the plane, and noted an Air Force One aircraft must be able to allow the president to command and control U.S. forces from midair during a catastrophic crisis, such as a nuclear war.
“This isn’t just about ensuring presidential protection, though that is very important,” Duckworth said. “This is about our national security and protecting all Americans from the dangers posed if the president’s sensitive communications are intercepted, or be out of contact, God forbid, with our nation’s military during a crisis.”
Duckworth initially appeared unsatisfied with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin’s and Meink’s responses to her questions about whether the work modifying a foreign-sourced aircraft into a presidential jet would be significant.
Meink initially said the service had been ordered to modify the aircraft and it was postured to do so, which raised Duckworth’s ire.
“That’s not my question,” Duckworth said.
Meink then expanded his answer and acknowledged the Air Force would look at all the issues Duckworth raised with the modifications. Meink said any civilian aircraft being converted into a presidential transport aircraft would require significant upgrades.
Duckworth said she is concerned that pressure to get the Qatar 747 into service in time for Trump to use by the end of his administration may lead to operational security corners being cut.
And she urged the Air Force not to let the “distraction” of the Qatar 747 hold up work on the two other 747s Boeing is now converting to Air Force One aircraft under the VC-25B program.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
