Qatar’s gift plane is awaiting an overhaul in San Antonio : NPR

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class=”img” alt=”President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025.” fetchpriority=”high” />

President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP

The luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the U.S. government by Qatar is standing by at the San Antonio, Texas, airport, awaiting a specialized overhaul from a defense contractor so that President Trump can use it as the next Air Force One.

It’s not clear how quickly the plane — which touched off a firestorm of ethical, legal, political and security concerns just ahead of Trump’s trip to the Middle East last week — will be ready to take the skies with Trump aboard.

The Air Force will take ownership of the plane once the paperwork to pass it over is complete, and then the retrofit can begin, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters on the record.

The Air Force did not comment publicly on the plans, and the White House earlier Monday deferred all questions to the Air Force.

“The president, frankly, has nothing to do with it,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.