Bombshell report exposes Donald Trump's $1b dilemma

News.com.au

5 days ago

Safety? Security? Or comfort? That's the $1 billion decision that confronted US President Donald Trump with his new Air Force One.
It is a $US400 million personal gift from Qatar's royal family: a gold-plated, cushion-festooned, custom-made Boeing 747 'flying palace'.
It is an alternative to Trump's 35-year-old, 'unimpressive' Boeing 747 flying White House.
And a replacement for the often-delayed successors he personally ordered back in 2017.
But there's a problem.
Air Force One is designed to serve as an airborne military headquarters.
From its decks, a President must be fully informed and fully in command of the United States' air, sea and land nuclear arsenal. And he must be protected from missiles, electromagnetic pulse and nuclear fallout.
But President Trump does not want a mobile command centre.
He wants to fly between the White House and his Mar-a-Lago estate in a mobile presidential palace.
'When you land and you see Saudi Arabia and you see UAE and you can see Qatar and you see all these — they have these brand-new Boeing 747s, mostly,' Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an April interview aboard Air Force One. 'And you see ours next to it … It's much smaller, it's much less impressive — as impressive as it is.'
He'd already encountered the Qatari flying palace. In February, members of the royal family flew into Palm Beach, Florida, to congratulate Trump on his reelection.
Now the diversion of almost $US1 billion to a Pentagon 'black project' may be a sign of the actual cost of bringing their extravagant gift up to specification.
'No one wants to discuss a mysterious, $US934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon's most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernisation of America's aging, ground-based nuclear missiles,' a new report from the New York Times states.
'Congressional budget sleuths have come to think that amount, slipped into an obscure Pentagon document sent to Capitol Hill as a 'transfer' to an unnamed classified project, almost certainly includes the renovation' of the jet that has been described as a palace in the sky.'
Sky-high ambitions
'Trump's concerns about Air Force One seem less focused on safety and security and more on size and opulence,' says University of Dayton aviation historian Professor Janet Bednarek.
'His longing for a 'palace in the sky' is befitting for a president drawn to soaring skyscrapers, lavish parades and gold ornamentation.'
President Trump has a long history of complaining about Air Force One.
While it's acceptable for the US Air Force to rely upon 70-year-old Boeing B-52 bombers, that's not the case for the White House. And the existing Boeings, based on the 747-200B model, have been flying since the 1990s.
Its colours are all wrong. It may have a streak of Trump's signature gold among the traditional white and soft blue. But Trump wants a bold new maroon and dark blue look.
It's too utilitarian. He complains it's more like a flying White House Oval Office than a Presidential Palace suite.
'I believe that we should have the most impressive plane,' Trump told US media in April.
But that's not the same as the most effective plane.
Armour.
Electronic shielding.
Sensitive and secure communications.
Accommodation for command, medical and serving staff
Overpowered engines.
All must be added before an aircraft can meet the minimum requirements of protecting—and empowering—a sitting US president.
Trump has taken an unusually hands-on approach to replacing this Presidential status symbol since stepping into the Oval Office for his first term on January 20, 2017.
One of his first acts was to commission replacements for the existing fleet.
But that project is over budget and behind schedule.
'No, I'm not happy with Boeing,' he said immediately upon taking office in February this year. 'There's no excuse for it… I would not consider Airbus over Boeing, but I could buy one that was used and convert it.'
He was clearly thinking of the personal tour he had been given by the Qatari royal family of its 13-year-old 747 at Palm Beach International Airport just days earlier.
Then, on May 21, the US Department of Defence announced it had accepted the gift of a Boeing 747-8 on behalf of the President from Qatar.
'No cost' to US taxpayer
'I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,' Trump said in May. 'I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane.''
The President appeared to think it would be an immediate replacement for his existing ride. 'It's going to be a couple of years, I think, before the (new) Boeings are finished,' he said.
Earlier this month, Trump hosted the Qatar royal family's prime minister at the White House for a private dinner.
The Pentagon has since confirmed the transfer of the aircraft will come at 'no cost' to the United States. But not its renovation.
'I think there has been a number thrown around on the order of $1 billion,' US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told a Congressional hearing in June.
'But a lot of those costs associated with that are costs that we'd have experienced anyway (with the new Boeing aircraft) … So it wouldn't be anywhere near that.'
With the money allocated for the new aircraft diverted, Mink said the additional cost of renovating the Qatari 747 would be about $US400 million.
But it now appears the real price may be the effectiveness and readiness of the US nuclear shield.
The mysterious $US934 million funds transfer originates from the $US125 billion Pentagon Sentinel project, tasked with modernising US silo-based nuclear missiles.
That project began in 2020. It's also facing cost blowouts and significant delays.
'The security implications of accepting a private plane from a foreign nation as Air Force One and the resulting ethical concerns a gift of that size creates were already significant,' Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen told US media overnight.
'This administration is diverting funds from the nuclear modernisation budget to finance costly renovations to this plane. (This is) weakening our credibility to fund a vanity project for President Trump.'
Vanity versus validity
'The security measures needed to safely transport the president – especially during wartime – spurred the creation of the first custom-built aircraft for presidential use,' explains Professor Bednarek.
That aircraft was a propeller-driven USAF VC-54 Skymaster modified to carry President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its official name was 'The Flying White House'. But it was best known as the 'Sacred Cow.'
The first Presidential jet was a Boeing 707 used by President John F. Kennedy. The First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, helped establish the light-blue-and-white colour scheme that has since become the standard look.
'Air Force One has long served as a symbol of the power and prestige of the presidency,' Professor Bednarek adds.
President Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One as it flew President Kennedy's body back to Washington DC. President Richard Nixon took off aboard Air Force One on August 8, 1974, to return to his California home. It landed as Flight SAM 27000 - his Presidency having ended mid-flight.
But Trump wants to elevate this Presidential icon to new heights.
He personally met with Boeing executives and engineers at the White House immediately upon taking office in 2017. Within a month, he had a $US4.2 billion fixed-price deal: 'We got that price down by over $1 billion'.
'Air Force One is going to be incredible,' Trump explained. 'It's going to be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it's going to be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate.'
Soaring costs
'There's your new Air Force One,' Trump proclaimed in 2019, pointing to a Boeing mock-up of the future plane. 'I'm doing that for other presidents, not for me.'
Details of the new-build presidential aircraft are top secret. And therefore sketchy.
Better protection. More secure communications. A complete emergency surgery suite.
The manufacturer has had to extend the lifetime of its decommissioned 747 production line to build the two new special edition airframes. The aircraft, first entering service in 1969, has been replaced by the newer, smaller Boeing 777.
So it's little surprise that the VC-25B (a heavily modified version of its defunct commercial 747-8i) has suffered delays and cost overruns. Boeing has attributed this to the fact that it has struggled to retain and find suitable technicians, as well as obtain the necessary security clearance for them.
The project is already $US2 billion over budget. And Boeing must continue to absorb the cost of any further changes.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted in a 2022 presentation to investors that the deal had been a disaster for his company and that it should never have been agreed upon.
The first jet is now due to be completed in 2027, followed by the second a year later.
But there may be further delays.
Trump's proposed colour scheme reverted to a more traditional look under President Biden.
But Trump celebrated his Inauguration in February with a cake decked out with an Air Force One in his preferred look.
This will have engineering consequences.
Dark colours absorb much more heat. And that will impact ultra-sensitive weapons systems, infra-red sensors and radar transmitters.
Dark paints are also thicker and heavier. And that added weight and drag have a noticeable impact on high-performance aircraft.
And whatever space and weight are needed for new gold-plated fittings and opulent accommodations must come from the aircraft's command centre functions, emergency surgery, and protective systems.
Meanwhile, analysts say the $934 billion refurbishment of the Qatari gift 747 is likely to take at least two years, assuming no delays or cost overruns. And Trump has promised it will be donated to the Trump Presidential Museum upon the end of his Presidency.
Constitutionally, that is due in January 2029.