US Sec. of Defense has ‘Accepted’ the Qatar B-747…..

The Boeing 747-8 now has been ‘Given’ to the United States Air Force….

‘Technically’?

The Air Force is NOT supposed to accept the plane Don ald Trump says insn’t ‘his’ but the Government until Congress sings off on the ‘Gift’….

But Donald isn’t one for the rules and has ordered his Defense Sec. Hegseth to work on getting the aircraft ready for his boss to use in his last year as President….

(Remember the “Wall’ HEe was gonna build for Billions?)

Question’s?

“IF’ the US Air Force ‘owns’ the plane?

Then?

Donald Trump shouldn’t get the ‘Gift’ back on January 21, 2029….Right?

Since the US Air Force ‘owns’ the plane?

Congress should have to authorise the work on the plane and pay the bill, eh?

(The costs could run into several Hundred Million Dollars)

The question WILL BE?

WTF is Congress gonna do on this?

 

Oh?

Qatar actually couldn’t get rid of the plane ….

So they gave it away to Donald/America…

The United States has accepted a 747 jetliner as a gift from the government of Qatar, and the Air Force has now been asked to figure out a way to rapidly upgrade it so it can be put into use as a new Air Force One for President Trump, a Defense Department spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

“The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement. “The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States.”

The plane, which industry executives estimated is worth about $200 million, will require extensive work before it can be considered secure enough to carry Mr. Trump, Pentagon officials have acknowledged in recent days.

“Any civilian aircraft will take significant modifications to do so,” Troy Meink, the Air Force secretary, said on Tuesday during Senate testimony. “Based on the secretary’s direction, we are postured and we’re off looking at that right now, what it’s going to take for that particular aircraft.”

The plan has drawn concern from members of Congress, who worry that Mr. Trump will pressure the Air Force to do the work so fast that sufficient security measures are not built into the plane, such as missile defense systems or even systems to protect the plane from the electromagnetic effects of a nuclear blast.

“If President Trump insists on converting this plane to a hardened Air Force One before 2029, I worry about the pressures you may be under to cut corners on operational security,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, said as Mr. Meink was testifying….

…

The new plane will be the third being retrofitted for use as Air Force One, replacing two planes that have been in use for 35 years and have had maintenance problems.

But maintaining the staff and equipment for three planes is extraordinarily expensive, an estimated $135 million a year for each plane, according to the Pentagon. And it could cost $1 billion or more to retrofit the Qatari plane to get it ready for use as Air Force One, a process that former Air Force officials said could take longer than finishing the job Boeing is already doing to deliver the first two planes…

…

The first of the Boeing planes is scheduled to be delivered in 2027, Air Force officials recently said.

It remains unclear where the money will come from to retrofit the Qatari plane or to maintain and operate it, once it is completed. Congress typically reviews and approves spending on any new major Pentagon programs. But Mr. Trump has already shown a willingness to spend federal dollars as his administration wants, often without consulting Congress.

The Senate majority leader, John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, said this month that Congress would be asking questions about any possible use of the Qatari plane as Air Force One.

“If and when it’s no longer a hypothetical, I can assure you there will be plenty of scrutiny of whatever that arrangement might look like,” Mr. Thune said.

The Qatari plane had its first flight in 2012, and then it was renovated with a luxury interior for members of the royal family in Qatar. But the government there has been trying to sell the plane for about five years…..

…

Congress also has not yet taken any formal vote to accept the plane as a gift from Qatar. The Constitution requires that Congress sign off on any large gift given to the president. Mr. Trump has said the gift is to the United States government, not him as president….

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