President Donald Trump is teaching car lovers around the world by example. If you have a new project car, you need to have a reliable daily to fall back on if the worst happens. Trump said Sunday that the Boeing VC-25B bridge would be out of service for “about a month.” Earlier this month, he flew home from the NATO summit in Turkey on an old Boeing VC-25A because the new aircraft gifted by Qatar reportedly lacked proper anti-missile measures.
Trump initially claimed that the aircraft swap was to allow the VC-25B Bridge to air bases in Europe so deployed US Air Force personnel could tour the aircraft. However, the new York Times informed That the Secret Service advised the President not to fly the new plane, citing security concerns. When questioned about the potential threat in Türkiye, he replied, “I am number one on the killer list for Iran.” When asked Sunday why he was blowing up VC-25 bridges despite their lack of anti-missile protection, Trump replied:
“Well, there’s a lot of it, and you know it has a lot of potential, but as I understand it, in about a month, they’re going to send it to the max. So they’re going to send it, and they’ll push it to the max.”
This plane cost $1 billion and is yet to be maxed out
Using the phrase “maxed out” when talking about Boeing aircraft is probably not the best choice of words, but I’m sure Trump doesn’t want to involve American neighborhoods in Air Force One parts. The very prospect of refurbishing this aircraft raises many concerns. After the Qatari royal family donated a Boeing 747 to the Trump administration, the White House spent $1 billion for L3Harris to modify the aircraft for service. If $1 billion was spent on classified upgrades, but somehow did not include anti-missile countermeasures, what was that money actually spent on?
It should be noted that L3Harris rotated the VC-25B bridge into service worryingly quickly. It was less than a year from the initial transfer to its inaugural flight this month. The plane is called “Bridge” for a reason. Trump was desperate to fly in a new Air Force One before leaving office, but delays to the actual VC-25B put that possibility in jeopardy. There was also the cherry on top: The bridge plane will be donated to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation by the end of 2028.
