As secretary of the Air Force, I was frustrated by Boeing’s failure to deliver the new Air Force One aircraft on time.
I can understand that President Trump would like a new aircraft, painted as he desires and available for use during his term in office. I cannot understand his willingness to accept the “gift” of a luxuriously appointed, used Boeing 747 from Qatar.
It is wrong to accept this gift from any perspective.
Air Force One is not just transportation for the president. It is a symbol of the United States, the office of the Presidency, and the American people. When anyone sees Air Force One being used by our president, that is what we want them to see.
What we don’t want them to see is a gift to President Trump from Qatar.
RELATED
This plane would be forever tarnished by the fact of it being a gift from Qatar and not a product that America had provided to its own president. That fact alone should make it inappropriate and unseemly to accept this airplane, but there are many more problems accepting this plane and using it as Air Force One.
Gifts to the United States from foreign governments can be appropriate. Just last weekend, I visited the Statue of Liberty with my family. This statue was a gift to the people of the United States from the people of France in perpetuity. This gift from one people to another is an iconic symbol of our friendship with France and the freedom and opportunity associated with America. The Qatari 747 is no Statue of Liberty, and it is no answer for Trump to assert that this airplane is a gift to the American people if a condition of the gift is that it serve no one but Donald Trump.
It is both unethical and a violation of the Constitution for President Trump to accept this “gift.”
Every single person who works for the president, be they military members, civil servants or political appointees, is banned from accepting foreign gifts. These people are not “stupid” for declining these gifts, as the president has suggested; they are complying with their ethical responsibilities.
The Constitution specifically prohibits anyone in an office of trust of the United States from accepting foreign gifts. The president certainly holds an office of trust from the United States. If, as reported, the aircraft is gifted to the United States for Trump’s use but with the provision that it be transferred to his presidential library, and not to be used by subsequent presidents, that makes the gift personal and impermissible.
Then there is the open question of what, if anything, Qatar is getting in return. We don’t know, but we do know that the Trump Organization and the Trump family are actively doing business in Qatar and hope to do more. In business, gifts often have the purpose of influencing behavior. In many cases, influencing can cross the line into bribery.
Because even appearances of possible conflict destroy public trust, acceptance of gifts by anyone in government is prohibited. There is no justification for exempting the president from this ethical requirement.
Than there are the practical considerations. Air Force One should not be thought of as an airplane; it is a flying White House, complete with a Situation Room, medical facilities, secure communications systems and extensive security provisions, in addition to comfortable spaces to rest and work.
The cost of a 747 might be $250 million. The cost of an Air Force One is at least $2 billion. The contract that the then-CEO of Boeing agreed to with President Trump in his first term was $3.9 billion for two airplanes. Boeing is years behind on delivery of those airplanes and has already absorbed overruns of $2.5 billion. There is absolutely no possibility that the Qatari jet could be converted to the currently required configuration of an Air Force One in time for the airplane to be available during this presidential term.
What the president seems to intend is for the airplane to be repainted in his preferred paint scheme, which is similar to his privately owned aircraft, and for him to use the plane without the required Air Force One configuration or equipment.
As commander-in-chief, Donald Trump has the authority to waive virtually all of the Air Force One requirements. He cannot force Air Force pilots to fly an inherently unsafe aircraft, but short of that, he can direct that the Qatari aircraft be used essentially in its current configuration. This would be accepting a significant amount of risk.
Because of my industry experience, I’m familiar with the type of aircraft configuration Qatar is offering. Instead of a flying White House, think of this Qatari aircraft as a flying palace, with gold or platinum fixtures, silk carpets and wall hangings, and opulent furnishings of all types.
It will not have the capability to support a secure nuclear conference call or to provide high-quality communications to a combatant commander anywhere on the globe or to any national team working a security crisis or natural disaster.
President Trump can choose to accept this risk, and he can accept the increased risk to his own safety, but we should all remember that ultimately the risk of the president being unable to communicate or make a needed decision falls to the American people.
Contrary to what the president says, this will not be a free airplane. The costs to repaint and refurbish it will be borne by the United States. Converting a production 747 to customized customer specifications historically costs about $100 million.
The modifications the plane would need to bring it closer to an Air Force One configuration are more extensive, and the United States will bear those costs. If the plane is transferred to Trump’s presidential library at the end of his term, all of those investments will be lost after a very brief period of use.
Additionally, any risk mitigation steps that have to be taken to protect the president while using this plane or provide back-up capabilities will also be paid for by the American people.
The Air Force organizations that operate and support Air Force One are dedicated to meeting every conceivable need of the president and to exceptionally high standards of reliability, support, and security. I am highly confident that this team will do everything it can to support president Trump, whatever he decides.
Nevertheless, he needs to do the right thing and reject this unseemly, unethical and impractical gift.
Frank Kendall served as the secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration.
