14 May 2025
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Ever copped a lavish gift through your job? Ask US President Donald Trump and he’ll tell you all about the latest gift he’s accepting - his very own Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the Royal Family of Qatar. Let’s take to the skies together in Trump’s latest toy.
First things first, Trump does already have his own plane, but it's getting a little old.
Built in 1991, it's a Boeing 757-200. The new one - a Boeing 747-8KB from the jet-maker's Business Jet series - is estimated to cost US$400 million. Qatar announced plans to gift the plane to Trump, a plan that Democrats and even some Republicans have baulked at.
Despite the objections, Trump said he'd be "stupid" to turn it down:
I mean, I could be a stupid person saying, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane,'"
Image: John Taggart
It's easy to find photos of the jet's exterior, but what does it currently look like from the passenger seats?
Believe it or not, it’s tough to find internal pics of the plane. It has had at least two different tail numbers and more than a few different owners. But a bit of sleuthing has tracked it down.
You see, the plane isn’t brand new. It was put into service in 2012 and started servicing the needs of the Qatari Royal Family, sometimes through holding companies, and primarily for flights between the Middle East and Europe.
The jet itself has been dubbed a “flying palace” in its current spec, with interiors put together by French designer Alberto Pinto and his luxury design firm.
The 747 in question isn’t Pinto and co’s first take on a luxury jet, but it is the largest project it ever undertook. It took two whole years to design and complete.
The floor plan is meant to stand-in for a luxury private residence. Except it flies. There are Middle Eastern grand majlis‑style salon lounge and dining spaces, an office‑conference suite, master and guest staterooms (complete with en‑suite baths), multiple discreet quarters, plus an upper‑deck children’s zone and separate crew quarters.
Take a look at the current spec on the inside:
Not a bad gift, overall. But, the jet isn’t completely free.
Trump says he wants to refit the Qatari 747-8 for use as a replacement for the ageing Air Force One. Which won’t be easy.
The Presidential signature jumbo entered into service in 1990 and has seen six presidents. There’s no exact mileage available but to give you an idea, Air Force One flew almost 2.25 million kilometres during President Clinton’s eight-year tenure.
As a result, it’s is now at the end of its life, and Boeing has been hard at work to build a replacement since accepting the contract ini 2018. The company’s tough times have meant that the delivery date slipped to 2029 - 11 years after the initial order. It’s so delayed in fact that President Trump when he first re-took office urged the jet-maker to build the Air Force One replacement quicker. This dragged the delivery date forward to 2027. But only if it relaxed some of the specs the US Government had originally asked for.
To save time on delivery and use the gift he’s being given, President Trump wants his new 747-8 to take over the role of flying the President around the world. And while the Qatari 747-8 might be well-appointed, but changing it over to Air Force One-spec will take some doing.
The almost 375-square metre aircraft is basically an aerial White House that can withstand the electromagnetic pulse emitted by nuclear attacks.
Among other things, the current two-deck Air Force One includes:
And that’s excluding all of the passenger-facing tech it sports.
The Trump 747 jet itself costs around US$400 million (although some have estimated it’s only around US$250 million). The plan to retrofit it could see US taxpayers still foot a bill that either equals or far surpasses that figure. It depends on who you ask.
Some guesstimates have the figure as low as tens of millions. But some have estimated a cost over US$1 billion for the retrofit. Running the thing for 30 years (its estimated shelf life) brings a price tag of around US$7.7 billion, according to the Pentagon. In 2023, the Air Force said it costs around US$200,000 per hour to run.
The cost of the retrofit comes from not only installing all the new gear to bring it up to Air Force One-spec, but also, security. Various US agencies have indicated they would need to strip the jet down to its airframe and make sure there are no security concerns. This includes listening devices, trackers and other nasties.
And not wanting to contribute to any waste of taxpayer funds, Trump has indicated that he won’t cancel the order for Boeing’s new Air Force One. Instead, he’ll keep the Qatari 747-8 when he leaves office. Or, at least, the Trump Presidential Library will keep it.
It was gifted to him after all. Something he’s had a pretty clear stance on in the past.
The Donald has a rich history of posting his thoughts online, both prior to his presidency and during. As you’d expect, then, he’s had a lot to say about other politicians accepting gifts. In his time campaigning especially, Trump had a lot to say on “pay-to-play” in politics.
In a New York speech in 2016, Trump railed against then-opponent Hillary Clinton for her register of interests from foreign governments. He claimed:
“Hillary Clinton accepted $58,000 in jewellery from the government of Brunei when she was Secretary of State…”
It’s worth pointing out that the jewellery in question was accepted by the United States government and handed over to the General Services administration at the time according to FactCheck.
Trump also sees foreign aid as “gifts” to other nations that America, at least, should halt (and for the most part, it since has). Among other quotes on foreign aid, one position Trump has taken at CPAC includes:
“We’re giving billions and billions of dollars to countries that hate us.”
Since retaking office, Trump has wound back “foreign aid” gifts to other nations by - among other acts and Executive Orders - attempting to dismantle the USAID administration as part of the DOGE cost-cutting program.
He also claimed that Clinton used the State Department to funnel money into her own pockets via the Clinton during her tenure:
She ran the State Department like her own personal hedge fund – doing favours for oppressive regimes, and many others, in exchange for cash.
Again, a fact-check has found that the Clinton Foundation did receive direct donations from foreign powers like Russia and Saudi Arabia, but this was not during her time running the State Department.
And then there’s the question of who the gift of the luxury Boeing jet is actually coming from. Qatar isn’t exactly at the top of Santa’s nice list.
Qatar has been cited frequently for human-rights abuses, worker exploitation, jailing of whistleblowers, tinkering in the dealings of the European Parliament, and long-standing ties to extremist groups that has led the US State Department (under a previous administration) to label the country as a major “non-NATO ally”.
Either way, we'll keep an eye on the plane on flight trackers to see where it ends up next. At the time of writing, it's doing 750km/h at just under 37,000 feet, about to land in Amsterdam from Porto Airport in Portugal.
