Latest news with #presidentialplane
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump says Qatari jet could be ready for use as Air Force One in 6 months. Experts are deeply skeptical
President Donald Trump told reporters last month the donated Qatari jet could be ready for his use as Air Force One in February 2026, well ahead of the long-delayed delivery of two presidential planes from Boeing through a more traditional acquisition process. 'They say February,' Trump said in late July, when asked by a reporter when he expected to be flying on the new plane. 'Much sooner than the others. The others are being built.' But former Defense officials and aviation analysts express deep skepticism about how realistic that timeline is, citing the immense task of upgrading a foreign government's plane to meet Air Force One's distinct requirements and ensuring it is safe and secure for a president to fly on, especially internationally. Andrew Hunter is a former assistant secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration. He oversaw an annual budget of more than $54 billion for hundreds of acquisition programs, including Air Force One. He thinks it would be 'challenging, if not impossible,' to complete the jet in that timeframe without Trump waiving some of the requirements that typically need to occur before a president can fly on a new plane. 'It would not be possible to replicate all the capabilities of an Air Force One on (the donated jet), on any time frame shorter than what they're doing with (the Boeing program),' he said. Beyond the timeline concerns from an aviation perspective, the plan to use a donated Boeing 747-8 from Qatar poses a lot of questions and has drawn bipartisan scrutiny. Many are skeptical of the legality and ethics of accepting such a gift. Others are worried about the threat to security, based on how much goes into a jet fit for the leader of the United States. But Trump remains undaunted and continues to project optimism about the timeline. 'We'll get this one a year-and-a-half, two years earlier (than the Boeing planes),' the president told reporters in late July. The contracted jets continue to undergo renovations in San Antonio. The Qatari plane was previously parked in the city as well while awaiting upgrades, but open source aircraft tracker ADS-B Exchange shows the jet flew to Fort Worth Alliance Airport on June 29. The plane has rarely popped up on the open source tracker since then, with it last being recorded in late July at the Texas airport. Too soon? Refurbishments on commercial jets that don't have the strict and complicated requirements of Air Force One can take weeks or months depending on how much work needs to be done and the age of the aircraft. For example, according to aviation website Simply Flying, certain maintenance checks involving the complete disassembly of a plane are done every six to 12 years. That comprehensive inspection typically takes between three to six weeks. But security concerns mean what the Qatari plane needs to undergo is even more arduous than that disassembly, experts say, and is very likely to take longer. The plane can be ready by February, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at boutique aerospace and defense management consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, but not with the capability or security that an Air Force One needs, raising the possibility that the administration may plan to cut corners in order to deliver it in that timeframe. 'It is absolutely going to be ready to start flying in February,' Aboulafia said, 'and instantly transmitting every onboard conversation to anybody around the world who has a connection to it.' 'It's very different from stripping a plane down and inspecting it,' Aboulafia said. 'Very different – overhauling systems, overhauling engines, doing what you need to do to get the plane operationally ready. That's an extremely different job than scanning it for security risks, very different.' Retrofitting and installing the required security and communications equipment on a second-hand plane from another government, even a friendly one, is a monumental task, CNN has reported. US spy and security agencies tasked with the overhaul will need to essentially strip the aircraft down to its frame and rebuild it with the necessary equipment. The more changes made to the plane itself, said Frank Kendall, the Air Force secretary under the Biden administration, the more that will need to occur to ensure that it meets air-worthiness requirements, taking longer. 'There's a chance Trump will never get this airplane no matter what,' Kendall, who now does consulting work, said. However, Kendall, echoing other experts, said the donated jet could be ready in February, 'if the president waives almost all Air Force One unique requirements and minimizes modifications to the airplane.' 'It would probably result in a plane that would only be used inside the US,' he said. The White House and the Air Force did not respond to a request for comment. It's not clear where the upgrade process currently stands, and the experts CNN spoke to have not seen the jet in person. In early July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement outlining the terms of the jet's 'unconditional donation,' CNN previously reported, although the terms have not been formally announced. An addendum to the agreement reviewed by CNN last month said the Air Force 'is in the process of finalizing the transfer of registration and will immediately begin execution of the required modifications.' New Air Force One a long time coming Conversations about replacing the decades-old planes currently used by the president began years ago under former President Barack Obama. Momentum began picking up under the first Trump administration when he struck a deal to purchase two existing aircraft from Boeing, but the addition of a plane donated by the Qatari royal family has added a strange and some say concerning twist to the saga. In 2018, Boeing confirmed it received a $3.9 billion contract for two new presidential planes. By 2022, the president of the United States was supposed to be in a new plane. But that timeline also didn't pan out, leading Trump to find an alternative. When the president announced he planned to accept a jet from Qatar, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Several Republican senators expressed misgivings about the idea, noting the potential for security and legal risks. Trump's plan for the plane to go to his presidential library upon leaving office raised additional ethical concerns. And while Trump has said it would be stupid to turn down a 'free, very expensive airplane,' officials say renovating the jet could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked how much it would cost to retrofit the new plane, Trump deflected. Officially, the price tag to retrofit the Qatari plane for use by the president is classified, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers in June that it will 'probably' cost less than $400 million. 'That's up to the military. I really don't know. I haven't been involved,' Trump said last month. 'It's their plane, it's, you know, the Air Force,' he said. 'They'll be spending that amount of money.' The Air Force is looking to fund the upgrades by transferring hundreds of millions of dollars from the vastly overbudget Sentinel program to an unspecified classified project, sources familiar with a congressional notification about the transfer previously told CNN. Sentinel is a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system that is being developed to replace the US' aging Minuteman III missiles. Boeing's jets in San Antonio still hold promise Boeing's contract to replace two Air Force One jets had an original delivery date of 2022 – but now the planes are potentially expected by 2027, a timeline that would deliver them while Trump is still in office. It's one to two years earlier than Boeing had most recently predicted, after a global pandemic, supply chain issues and other problems stalled production and the company incurred losses totaling $2.5 billion on the program. Hunter, the former Air Force assistant secretary, argues one of the biggest design challenges of the program is finishing interior design work on the aircraft. In 2021, Boeing fired GDC Technics, which was hired as a subcontractor to design and build the interiors of the new planes, and later sued the company, citing delays. GDC Technics countersued and later filed for bankruptcy. Boeing declined to comment on where the interior work stands. While the Qatari jet will require a major overhaul to ensure its safety, security and operability as it carries the president, the new Boeing jets are following the more traditional route, made in the United States by a well-known manufacturer. And Aboulafia sees promise in the troubled company, which is trying to turn a corner. 'Everything is kind of turning around,' Aboulafia said. 'They just had the second clean quarter for their defense unit, which was amazing … I have a much higher level of confidence in all of their programs, really, as a consequence of the management changes.' Delivering the planes in the next two years – which Darlene Costello, the Air Force's acting acquisition chief, suggested was possible during her testimony before House lawmakers in May – would mark a significant acceleration for the project. 'I would not necessarily guarantee that date, but they are proposing to bring it in '27, if we can come to agreement on the requirement changes,' Costello said, referring to contract requirements that are being loosened to get to that earlier date – such as the Air Force 'relieving' Boeing of some of the top-clearance security requirements for workers performing work on the aircraft, which has also been blamed for some of the delays. Kendall, the former Air Force secretary, said at the forefront of the minds of those working on a new plane, should be safety and security, rather than cost or speed. 'As Defense Department acquisition executive, I was responsible for both Marine One and Air Force One,' Kendall said. 'Over the years, the people that set the requirements for these aircraft and that work at the White House are not constrained by time or money unless directed otherwise by the president. They're constrained by their imaginations about which scenarios might occur in which they might need something to support or protect the president. Those 'requirements' dictate both cost and schedule.' CNN's Alejandra Jaramillo, Natasha Bertrand, and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Trump says Qatari jet could be ready for use as Air Force One in 6 months. Experts are deeply skeptical
President Donald Trump told reporters last month the donated Qatari jet could be ready for his use as Air Force One in February 2026, well ahead of the long-delayed delivery of two presidential planes from Boeing through a more traditional acquisition process. 'They say February,' Trump said in late July, when asked by a reporter when he expected to be flying on the new plane. 'Much sooner than the others. The others are being built.' But former Defense officials and aviation analysts express deep skepticism about how realistic that timeline is, citing the immense task of upgrading a foreign government's plane to meet Air Force One's distinct requirements and ensuring it is safe and secure for a president to fly on, especially internationally. Andrew Hunter is a former assistant secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration. He oversaw an annual budget of more than $54 billion for hundreds of acquisition programs, including Air Force One. He thinks it would be 'challenging, if not impossible,' to complete the jet in that timeframe without Trump waiving some of the requirements that typically need to occur before a president can fly on a new plane. 'It would not be possible to replicate all the capabilities of an Air Force One on (the donated jet), on any time frame shorter than what they're doing with (the Boeing program),' he said. Beyond the timeline concerns from an aviation perspective, the plan to use a donated Boeing 747-8 from Qatar poses a lot of questions and has drawn bipartisan scrutiny. Many are skeptical of the legality and ethics of accepting such a gift. Others are worried about the threat to security, based on how much goes into a jet fit for the leader of the United States. But Trump remains undaunted and continues to project optimism about the timeline. 'We'll get this one a year-and-a-half, two years earlier (than the Boeing planes),' the president told reporters in late July. The contracted jets continue to undergo renovations in San Antonio. The Qatari plane was previously parked in the city as well while awaiting upgrades, but open source aircraft tracker ADS-B Exchange shows the jet flew to Fort Worth Alliance Airport on June 29. The plane has rarely popped up on the open source tracker since then, with it last being recorded in late July at the Texas airport. Refurbishments on commercial jets that don't have the strict and complicated requirements of Air Force One can take weeks or months depending on how much work needs to be done and the age of the aircraft. For example, according to aviation website Simply Flying, certain maintenance checks involving the complete disassembly of a plane are done every six to 12 years. That comprehensive inspection typically takes between three to six weeks. But security concerns mean what the Qatari plane needs to undergo is even more arduous than that disassembly, experts say, and is very likely to take longer. The plane can be ready by February, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at boutique aerospace and defense management consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, but not with the capability or security that an Air Force One needs, raising the possibility that the administration may plan to cut corners in order to deliver it in that timeframe. 'It is absolutely going to be ready to start flying in February,' Aboulafia said, 'and instantly transmitting every onboard conversation to anybody around the world who has a connection to it.' 'It's very different from stripping a plane down and inspecting it,' Aboulafia said. 'Very different – overhauling systems, overhauling engines, doing what you need to do to get the plane operationally ready. That's an extremely different job than scanning it for security risks, very different.' Retrofitting and installing the required security and communications equipment on a second-hand plane from another government, even a friendly one, is a monumental task, CNN has reported. US spy and security agencies tasked with the overhaul will need to essentially strip the aircraft down to its frame and rebuild it with the necessary equipment. The more changes made to the plane itself, said Frank Kendall, the Air Force secretary under the Biden administration, the more that will need to occur to ensure that it meets air-worthiness requirements, taking longer. 'There's a chance Trump will never get this airplane no matter what,' Kendall, who now does consulting work, said. However, Kendall, echoing other experts, said the donated jet could be ready in February, 'if the president waives almost all Air Force One unique requirements and minimizes modifications to the airplane.' 'It would probably result in a plane that would only be used inside the US,' he said. The White House and the Air Force did not respond to a request for comment. It's not clear where the upgrade process currently stands, and the experts CNN spoke to have not seen the jet in person. In early July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement outlining the terms of the jet's 'unconditional donation,' CNN previously reported, although the terms have not been formally announced. An addendum to the agreement reviewed by CNN last month said the Air Force 'is in the process of finalizing the transfer of registration and will immediately begin execution of the required modifications.' Conversations about replacing the decades-old planes currently used by the president began years ago under former President Barack Obama. Momentum began picking up under the first Trump administration when he struck a deal to purchase two existing aircraft from Boeing, but the addition of a plane donated by the Qatari royal family has added a strange and some say concerning twist to the saga. In 2018, Boeing confirmed it received a $3.9 billion contract for two new presidential planes. By 2022, the president of the United States was supposed to be in a new plane. But that timeline also didn't pan out, leading Trump to find an alternative. When the president announced he planned to accept a jet from Qatar, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Several Republican senators expressed misgivings about the idea, noting the potential for security and legal risks. Trump's plan for the plane to go to his presidential library upon leaving office raised additional ethical concerns. And while Trump has said it would be stupid to turn down a 'free, very expensive airplane,' officials say renovating the jet could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked how much it would cost to retrofit the new plane, Trump deflected. Officially, the price tag to retrofit the Qatari plane for use by the president is classified, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers in June that it will 'probably' cost less than $400 million. 'That's up to the military. I really don't know. I haven't been involved,' Trump said last month. 'It's their plane, it's, you know, the Air Force,' he said. 'They'll be spending that amount of money.' The Air Force is looking to fund the upgrades by transferring hundreds of millions of dollars from the vastly overbudget Sentinel program to an unspecified classified project, sources familiar with a congressional notification about the transfer previously told CNN. Sentinel is a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system that is being developed to replace the US' aging Minuteman III missiles. Boeing's contract to replace two Air Force One jets had an original delivery date of 2022 – but now the planes are potentially expected by 2027, a timeline that would deliver them while Trump is still in office. It's one to two years earlier than Boeing had most recently predicted, after a global pandemic, supply chain issues and other problems stalled production and the company incurred losses totaling $2.5 billion on the program. Hunter, the former Air Force assistant secretary, argues one of the biggest design challenges of the program is finishing interior design work on the aircraft. In 2021, Boeing fired GDC Technics, which was hired as a subcontractor to design and build the interiors of the new planes, and later sued the company, citing delays. GDC Technics countersued and later filed for bankruptcy. Boeing declined to comment on where the interior work stands. While the Qatari jet will require a major overhaul to ensure its safety, security and operability as it carries the president, the new Boeing jets are following the more traditional route, made in the United States by a well-known manufacturer. And Aboulafia sees promise in the troubled company, which is trying to turn a corner. 'Everything is kind of turning around,' Aboulafia said. 'They just had the second clean quarter for their defense unit, which was amazing … I have a much higher level of confidence in all of their programs, really, as a consequence of the management changes.' Delivering the planes in the next two years – which Darlene Costello, the Air Force's acting acquisition chief, suggested was possible during her testimony before House lawmakers in May – would mark a significant acceleration for the project. 'I would not necessarily guarantee that date, but they are proposing to bring it in '27, if we can come to agreement on the requirement changes,' Costello said, referring to contract requirements that are being loosened to get to that earlier date – such as the Air Force 'relieving' Boeing of some of the top-clearance security requirements for workers performing work on the aircraft, which has also been blamed for some of the delays. Kendall, the former Air Force secretary, said at the forefront of the minds of those working on a new plane, should be safety and security, rather than cost or speed. 'As Defense Department acquisition executive, I was responsible for both Marine One and Air Force One,' Kendall said. 'Over the years, the people that set the requirements for these aircraft and that work at the White House are not constrained by time or money unless directed otherwise by the president. They're constrained by their imaginations about which scenarios might occur in which they might need something to support or protect the president. Those 'requirements' dictate both cost and schedule.' CNN's Alejandra Jaramillo, Natasha Bertrand, and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Trump says Qatari jet could be ready for use as Air Force One in 6 months. Experts are deeply skeptical
President Donald Trump told reporters last month the donated Qatari jet could be ready for his use as Air Force One in February 2026, well ahead of the long-delayed delivery of two presidential planes from Boeing through a more traditional acquisition process. 'They say February,' Trump said in late July, when asked by a reporter when he expected to be flying on the new plane. 'Much sooner than the others. The others are being built.' But former Defense officials and aviation analysts express deep skepticism about how realistic that timeline is, citing the immense task of upgrading a foreign government's plane to meet Air Force One's distinct requirements and ensuring it is safe and secure for a president to fly on, especially internationally. Andrew Hunter is a former assistant secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration. He oversaw an annual budget of more than $54 billion for hundreds of acquisition programs, including Air Force One. He thinks it would be 'challenging, if not impossible,' to complete the jet in that timeframe without Trump waiving some of the requirements that typically need to occur before a president can fly on a new plane. 'It would not be possible to replicate all the capabilities of an Air Force One on (the donated jet), on any time frame shorter than what they're doing with (the Boeing program),' he said. Beyond the timeline concerns from an aviation perspective, the plan to use a donated Boeing 747-8 from Qatar poses a lot of questions and has drawn bipartisan scrutiny. Many are skeptical of the legality and ethics of accepting such a gift. Others are worried about the threat to security, based on how much goes into a jet fit for the leader of the United States. But Trump remains undaunted and continues to project optimism about the timeline. 'We'll get this one a year-and-a-half, two years earlier (than the Boeing planes),' the president told reporters in late July. The contracted jets continue to undergo renovations in San Antonio. The Qatari plane was previously parked in the city as well while awaiting upgrades, but open source aircraft tracker ADS-B Exchange shows the jet flew to Fort Worth Alliance Airport on June 29. The plane has rarely popped up on the open source tracker since then, with it last being recorded in late July at the Texas airport. Refurbishments on commercial jets that don't have the strict and complicated requirements of Air Force One can take weeks or months depending on how much work needs to be done and the age of the aircraft. For example, according to aviation website Simply Flying, certain maintenance checks involving the complete disassembly of a plane are done every six to 12 years. That comprehensive inspection typically takes between three to six weeks. But security concerns mean what the Qatari plane needs to undergo is even more arduous than that disassembly, experts say, and is very likely to take longer. The plane can be ready by February, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at boutique aerospace and defense management consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, but not with the capability or security that an Air Force One needs, raising the possibility that the administration may plan to cut corners in order to deliver it in that timeframe. 'It is absolutely going to be ready to start flying in February,' Aboulafia said, 'and instantly transmitting every onboard conversation to anybody around the world who has a connection to it.' 'It's very different from stripping a plane down and inspecting it,' Aboulafia said. 'Very different – overhauling systems, overhauling engines, doing what you need to do to get the plane operationally ready. That's an extremely different job than scanning it for security risks, very different.' Retrofitting and installing the required security and communications equipment on a second-hand plane from another government, even a friendly one, is a monumental task, CNN has reported. US spy and security agencies tasked with the overhaul will need to essentially strip the aircraft down to its frame and rebuild it with the necessary equipment. The more changes made to the plane itself, said Frank Kendall, the Air Force secretary under the Biden administration, the more that will need to occur to ensure that it meets air-worthiness requirements, taking longer. 'There's a chance Trump will never get this airplane no matter what,' Kendall, who now does consulting work, said. However, Kendall, echoing other experts, said the donated jet could be ready in February, 'if the president waives almost all Air Force One unique requirements and minimizes modifications to the airplane.' 'It would probably result in a plane that would only be used inside the US,' he said. The White House and the Air Force did not respond to a request for comment. It's not clear where the upgrade process currently stands, and the experts CNN spoke to have not seen the jet in person. In early July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement outlining the terms of the jet's 'unconditional donation,' CNN previously reported, although the terms have not been formally announced. An addendum to the agreement reviewed by CNN last month said the Air Force 'is in the process of finalizing the transfer of registration and will immediately begin execution of the required modifications.' Conversations about replacing the decades-old planes currently used by the president began years ago under former President Barack Obama. Momentum began picking up under the first Trump administration when he struck a deal to purchase two existing aircraft from Boeing, but the addition of a plane donated by the Qatari royal family has added a strange and some say concerning twist to the saga. In 2018, Boeing confirmed it received a $3.9 billion contract for two new presidential planes. By 2022, the president of the United States was supposed to be in a new plane. But that timeline also didn't pan out, leading Trump to find an alternative. When the president announced he planned to accept a jet from Qatar, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Several Republican senators expressed misgivings about the idea, noting the potential for security and legal risks. Trump's plan for the plane to go to his presidential library upon leaving office raised additional ethical concerns. And while Trump has said it would be stupid to turn down a 'free, very expensive airplane,' officials say renovating the jet could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked how much it would cost to retrofit the new plane, Trump deflected. Officially, the price tag to retrofit the Qatari plane for use by the president is classified, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers in June that it will 'probably' cost less than $400 million. 'That's up to the military. I really don't know. I haven't been involved,' Trump said last month. 'It's their plane, it's, you know, the Air Force,' he said. 'They'll be spending that amount of money.' The Air Force is looking to fund the upgrades by transferring hundreds of millions of dollars from the vastly overbudget Sentinel program to an unspecified classified project, sources familiar with a congressional notification about the transfer previously told CNN. Sentinel is a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system that is being developed to replace the US' aging Minuteman III missiles. Boeing's contract to replace two Air Force One jets had an original delivery date of 2022 – but now the planes are potentially expected by 2027, a timeline that would deliver them while Trump is still in office. It's one to two years earlier than Boeing had most recently predicted, after a global pandemic, supply chain issues and other problems stalled production and the company incurred losses totaling $2.5 billion on the program. Hunter, the former Air Force assistant secretary, argues one of the biggest design challenges of the program is finishing interior design work on the aircraft. In 2021, Boeing fired GDC Technics, which was hired as a subcontractor to design and build the interiors of the new planes, and later sued the company, citing delays. GDC Technics countersued and later filed for bankruptcy. Boeing declined to comment on where the interior work stands. While the Qatari jet will require a major overhaul to ensure its safety, security and operability as it carries the president, the new Boeing jets are following the more traditional route, made in the United States by a well-known manufacturer. And Aboulafia sees promise in the troubled company, which is trying to turn a corner. 'Everything is kind of turning around,' Aboulafia said. 'They just had the second clean quarter for their defense unit, which was amazing … I have a much higher level of confidence in all of their programs, really, as a consequence of the management changes.' Delivering the planes in the next two years – which Darlene Costello, the Air Force's acting acquisition chief, suggested was possible during her testimony before House lawmakers in May – would mark a significant acceleration for the project. 'I would not necessarily guarantee that date, but they are proposing to bring it in '27, if we can come to agreement on the requirement changes,' Costello said, referring to contract requirements that are being loosened to get to that earlier date – such as the Air Force 'relieving' Boeing of some of the top-clearance security requirements for workers performing work on the aircraft, which has also been blamed for some of the delays. Kendall, the former Air Force secretary, said at the forefront of the minds of those working on a new plane, should be safety and security, rather than cost or speed. 'As Defense Department acquisition executive, I was responsible for both Marine One and Air Force One,' Kendall said. 'Over the years, the people that set the requirements for these aircraft and that work at the White House are not constrained by time or money unless directed otherwise by the president. They're constrained by their imaginations about which scenarios might occur in which they might need something to support or protect the president. Those 'requirements' dictate both cost and schedule.' CNN's Alejandra Jaramillo, Natasha Bertrand, and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Macron mocks Brigitte ‘shove' on arrival in Indonesia
Emmanuel Macron mocked the 'shoving' incident with his wife Brigitte as he departed the presidential plane in Indonesia on Wednesday. The French president stuck one hand out for the cameras, performing a tongue-in-cheek wave, before appearing at the top of the stairs, laughing. Instead of a shove, after a few seconds of suspense, Mrs Macron appeared, all smiles. The couple then locked arms, Mr Macron gave a thumbs up, and they descended the stairs side-by-side to greet officials. The departure was deliberately staged to make light of Monday's apparent squabble, sources said. Mr and Mrs Macron sparked a global furore after footage showed the French first lady raising her hand and pushing her husband's face, moments before they exited their plane in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Elysée initially suggested it was fake, AI-generated footage, only to later admit the images were real but were in fact a sign of 'closeness' and horseplay after a 16-hour flight. Mr Macron later blamed 'crackpot' conspiracy theorists for seeking to intensify speculation around the state of his marriage. In a fresh bid to quell continued speculation that the couple had fallen out, they chose to play up their departure from the presidential plane in Jakarta on Wednesday. A member of Mr Macron's entourage told France Info that the sequence was a deliberate send-up. 'Yes, they wanted to respond with self-deprecation,' the source was cited as saying. It was 'a gesture that will be seen as humorous by some... and provocative by others', suggested the state radio station. The spoof came hours after Mr Macron's communications team was reportedly in disarray over the 'shove', with splits reportedly emerging on how to handle the incident. The panicked reaction, and about-turn, reflected simmering 'tensions within the Elysée's communications unit', according to France Info. One Macron ally told the channel that the Elysée 'ballsed up' by first talking about fake images. Another insisted that they had to act quickly, adding: 'When they don't, it turns into the conspiracy theory sphere. We're in a world where there's a need for clarity so as not to let crazy stuff flourish.' Mr Macron shrugged off the incident, saying: 'My wife and I were squabbling, or rather we were joking, and I was taken by surprise. Now it has become a kind of planetary catastrophe, and some are even coming up with theories.' But Jean-Claude Dassier, a Europe1 commentator, bemoaned a 'catastrophic' PR reaction over what for him was 'clearly a row', but not an affair of state. 'Why haven't we heard from Brigitte?' he asked. 'For once, it would have been useful to have her plain and simple explanation.' Meanwhile, Olga Ciesco, a body language expert, insisted the initial incident was a dispute of some kind. While not a 'slap', the shove was 'a gesture of rejection,' she told the celebrity magazine Gala. 'She puts her hand on his cheek and pushes him to the point where he is forced to turn his head,' she said. 'He was rejected, a kind of rebuff. 'We can also see that he is reaching out to his wife, because he is used to supporting her, out of gallantry. But she doesn't take his hand, she doesn't accept his help. She is clearly saying no.'
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump to accept $400 million 'flying palace' from Qatar royal family to use as Air Force One and will KEEP it after leaving office
President Donald Trump is expected to accept a $400 million 'flying palace' from the Qatar royal family to serve as his presidential plane for the rest of his term. And in an extraordinary sign of the friendship between Trump and Qatar's royals, the opulent plane will reportedly be transferred to the ownership of Trump's presidential library foundation toward the end of his term, according to the ABC. This effectively ensures the aircraft remains in Trump's possession rather than passing on to a future president or returning to Qatar. The unprecedented gift was reportedly expected to be announced next week when Trump visits Qatar, but the offer is yet to be formally accepted. 'Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'President Trump's Administration is committed to full transparency.' In a sign that the administration anticipated backlash over the gift, Attorney General Pam Bondi has reportedly investigated the legality of accepting it. She determined that because the gift is not conditional it would not constitute bribery. Similarly, it would not run afoul of Constitutional limits to foreign gifts because the plane would be gifted first to the United States Air Force and eventually to the presidential library foundation - not to any one individual, sources said. Trump has reportedly been underwhelmed by Boeing's efforts to deliver a new pair of state-of-the-art planes to replace the old ones that have been in service since George H.W. Bush administration. Boeing has fallen so behind on the $3.9 billion project that it now fears it won't be able to finish building the planes before Trump leaves office. They were supposed to be finished last year, but a series of supplier and engineering snags has caused the project to take years and go billions over budget. And amid increased collaboration between the United States and Qatar, it is understood the royal family offered a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to the President to refurbish. The opulent plane boasts ornate suites, staterooms, lounges and dining rooms. Nearly every room on board has plush carpeting, leather couches and golden furnishes. The conference room has gorgeous tan and cream chairs with deep cushions that are adjustable with the push of a button. The corridors of the plane are lined with reflective, gold-colored walls that are reminiscent of Trump's design choices at his own properties such as Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. The interior of the plane was designed by famed French interior design firm Alberto Pinto Cabinet. It is considered one of the most lavish in the world and once listed for about $400 million, according to the Business Jet Traveler. Trump reportedly toured the jet when it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport back in February. Defense contractor L3Harris has the enormous task of retrofitting the Qatari jet with the most advanced communications and defense systems in the world in order to make the aircraft fit for the American commander-in-chief. These apparatuses give the president the ability to have a mobile command center in the sky so he can make crucial decisions in event the US were militarily attacked. According to the ABC, it 'may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government.' A White House official reportedly insisted the gift will not 'be presented or gifted' during the President's highly anticipated tour of the region next week. Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar's media spokesman, said in a statement that the 'possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar's Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense.' 'But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,' the statement added. In his first foreign trip of his second term, Trump will visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week. Trump's family business, the Trump Organization, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country's sovereign wealth fund.
