Watch: Trump unveils the new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar at Joint Base Andrews

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday previewed the new Air Force One, a jumbo jet formerly owned by Qatar that has been converted into the official U.S. presidential jet.

Watch Trump’s remarks in the video player above.

The new plane eschews the blue oval of the old Kennedy-era plane for a bolder look, with the bottom of the plane painted dark blue with a red stripe above it. The left side of the plane, where the president boards, is marked with the presidential seal, while the tail of the plane bears a huge American flag.

He watches: Senators demand that Hegseth provide details about the Qatari plane gifted to Trump

“This plane has been transformed into a flying White House with a level of luxury that no one has ever seen before,” Trump said from inside the massive Andrews Air Force Base hangar, as he watched over several hundred Air Force personnel. After getting off the new plane, he spoke in a dramatic voice, while his signature tune, “God Bless the United States of America,” played.

He confirmed that he would take the new plane to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month, and indicated that he would return to China “at some point,” a possible reference to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by China in November. He added that his return from the G7 summit in France this week was the last scheduled flight on the old presidential plane.

Trump said: “Now, when we land at airports in London and Germany and different places, no one beats this airport, and this is the way we should treat our country,” noting that the colors and design “match my taste, I will say.”

He added that the new presidential plane will fly during the Fourth of July celebrations next month.

The gift provided by Qatar is a so-called “bridge” plane to transport the president until the new planes requested directly from Boeing arrive. It is currently scheduled for 2028.

The administration officially accepted a luxury Boeing 747 from Qatar last year for use as a presidential jet, despite questions about the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign government. Trump had insisted in the past that he would not fly the Qatari plane once he left office, and said it would instead be donated to a future presidential library.

Trump said on Friday that the United States was in a “little bit of a bind” as it awaits direct delivery of the new planes from Boeing, which was originally scheduled for 2024 but was delayed. He referred to the Emir of Qatar’s request to use one of their planes.

“Look, the average president wouldn’t do that. The average president wants to stay off the planes,” Trump said Friday. “But our country should be properly represented.”

The Air Force said in a press release on Friday that any aircraft considered Air Force One “must meet stringent security requirements” and that the Qatari jet “was modified under a disciplined engineering approach that prioritizes these specific core capabilities above all else.” The Air Force also said that “a significant portion of the former head of state’s interior design” of the plane remained intact.

The Air Force has said in the past that security modifications to the plane would cost less than $400 million.

Trump’s efforts to reimagine Air Force One go back to his first administration, when he directed that the incoming fleet of new planes adopt a color scheme nearly identical to his personal plane. Then-President Joe Biden reversed the decision in March 2023 as an Air Force review suggested dark colors could increase costs and delay deliveries of new planes, but once Trump returned to office, he reverted to the desired colors for the plane.

The Air Force said earlier this year that other government aircraft carrying senior administration officials would also use a similar red, white and navy color scheme.

An Air Force spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, told The Associated Press that the two current aircraft, known as VC-25As, will not be retired. Instead, they will remain in the fleet until Boeing’s new planes, referred to as VC-25Bs, enter service, the spokesman said.

It is unclear how the old aircraft will be used, but the spokesperson said that the Qatari aircraft as well as VC-25As will be available for use and “the Presidential Airlift Group will select the appropriate aircraft for each mission based on operational requirements.”

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Konstantin Torobin contributed to this report from Washington.