Qatar's Gift to Trump Is Unsold Plane It's Been Trying to Dump for Years

5.15.25
The Boeing 747-8 being offered to U.S. President Donald Trump by Qatar once served the Qatari royal family and has been sitting unsold for years. The jet, a lavishly configured version of Boeing's largest passenger aircraft, has been lingering without a buyer since being put up for sale in 2020, according to aircraft listings and aviation analysts. Trump has publicly expressed frustration with Boeing's yearslong delay in delivering two modified 747s for presidential use. The president has argued that by accepting Qatar's offer, he can bypass delays and save U.S. taxpayers money. Critics, however, fear that the acceptance would be unethical and even unconstitutional. To meet Air Force One standards, the plane would need extensive modifications, including secure communications, nuclear blast shielding and missile defense systems.

The aircraft was commissioned for Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, Qatar's former prime minister, and delivered in 2012 at a list price of $367 million—not including the interior, which likely cost tens of millions of dollars. Despite its luxury interior, the plane has failed to find a buyer since being put on the market in 2020, according to a report from Forbes. The Qatar Amiri Flight, which manages the royal family's aircraft, still retains a fleet of similar planes. One of the two other 747-8s appears inactive, and a similar jet was gifted to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2018 after failing to sell. John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Forbes that giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that were only getting higher—with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them.

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BirdinHand said:

This chapter of America keeps getting even more ridiculous.

“But wait…there’s more!”

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