NYT reports that a mysterious, *$984 million* transfer from a Pentagon"black box" account might be paying for the renovation of Trump's "free" Qatari jet.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/u…— Anne S Kim (@anne-s-kim.bsky.social) July 27, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Per the NYTimes, “What Will It Cost to Renovate the ‘Free’ Air Force One? Don’t Ask”:
… Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards, where “black budgets” are often used as an excuse to avoid revealing the cost of outdated spy satellites and lavish end-of-year parties, the techniques being used to hide the cost of Mr. Trump’s pet project are inventive.
Which may explain why no one wants to discuss a mysterious, $934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon’s most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernization of America’s aging, ground-based nuclear missiles.
In recent weeks, congressional budget sleuths have come to think that amount, slipped into an obscure Pentagon document sent to Capitol Hill as a “transfer” to an unnamed classified project, almost certainly includes the renovation of the new, gold-adorned Air Force One that Mr. Trump desperately wants in the air before his term is over. (It is not clear if the entire transfer will be devoted to stripping the new Air Force One back to its airframe, but Air Force officials privately acknowledge dipping into nuclear modernization funds for the complex project.)…
Mr. Trump’s plane probably won’t fly for long: It will take a year or two to get the work done, and then the Qatari gift — improved with the latest communications and in-flight protective technology — will be transferred to the yet-to-be-created Trump presidential library after he leaves office in 2029, the president has said…
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the president said in May. “I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
It is free in the sense that a used car handed over by a neighbor looking to get it out of his driveway is free. In this case, among the many modifications will be hardened communications, antimissile systems and engine capabilities to take the president quickly to safety as one of the older Air Force Ones did on Sept. 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda attacked the United States. And there is the delicate matter of ridding the jet of any hidden electronic listening devices that U.S. officials suspect may be embedded in the walls.
Then, of course, it has to be stuffed with the luxuries — and gold trim — with which the 47th president surrounds himself, whether he is in the Oval Office or in the air. The jet’s upper deck has a lounge and a communications center, while the main bedroom can be converted into a flying sick bay in a medical emergency.
So it’s no surprise that one of Washington’s biggest guessing games these days is assessing just where the price tag will end up, on top of the $4 billion already being spent on the wildly-behind-schedule presidential planes that Boeing was supposed to deliver last year. It was those delays that led Mr. Trump to look for a gift…
“The more we learn about this deal, the more disturbing it becomes,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, who serves on the Armed Services Committee. “The security implications of accepting a private plane from a foreign nation as Air Force One and the resulting ethical concerns a gift of that sizes creates were already significant.”
But it was more worrisome, Ms. Shaheen said, that “this administration is diverting funds from the nuclear modernization budget to finance costly renovations to this plane.”
In doing so, she said, “we’re weakening our credibility to fund a vanity project for President Trump.”
Congressional Dems need to look for any opportunity to get votes on this. Toss an amendment in to a defense authorization, stuff like that, as often as they can. Make Repubs take bad votes on letting Trump steal $1B for his personal plane. I’m confident it will make for good attack ads next fall.
— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 27, 2025 at 1:06 PM
===
Hegseth repeatedly declined to comment on the price of upgrading the Qatari plane and when it would be delivered to be used as a presidential transport aircraft.
— Data4Miles (@datafourmiles.bsky.social) July 27, 2025 at 4:36 PM
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Of note is that the US government already has several planes of this model set up to become the next airforce one and play roles in mobile command.
The special thing about this plane is that Trump thinks he will get it when he leaves office. That’s why it has jumped to the front of the line.— felinecannonball (@felinecannon.bsky.social) July 27, 2025 at 11:19 AM
trollhattan
A billion bucks to replace an old plane with a different old plane that can’t do what the current old plane does.
Got it.
Baud
It’s the least Trump deserves for covering up Epstein.
NotMax
“Show me the Planefox.”
//
Suzanne
@trollhattan:
BuT wE nEeD a BuSiNeSsMaN iN tHe WhItE hOuSE.
mrmoshpotato
If the fucking New York Times had any shame, they’d shut down and go sit in the corner for the rest of time.
NotMax
Four words and I get one wrong.
“Show me the Planefax.”
//
mrmoshpotato
Manbaby wants his new toy!
Apologies to actual infants and toddlers.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Planefax Planefox! Or should the mascot be a bird?
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne: *A massively corrupt, traitorous, dictator-humping, fascistic, orange-faced, multiple-failures, manbaby, narcissistic businessman who wants to bang his own daughter.
How could the Trump trash not know that’s who they were voting for? 🤷♂️
Suzanne
@mrmoshpotato: Liberal tears is apparently one hell of a drug.
ETA: And to paraphrase Abigail Adams, his voters would also be all those things if they could.
lowtechcyclist
@mrmoshpotato:
It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane!
Steve LaBonne
@mrmoshpotato: They do know. They love it because it’s exactly what they would do if they had the chance.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Pretty sure you hit all the notes there =-)
p.s. my windy.com shows some storms popping up. You may get your wish.
Snarki, child of Loki
Perhaps they renovation will get most of the listening devices out.
Remote “kill switch”? One can but hope.
mrmoshpotato
@Steve LaBonne: True.
bbleh
Fortunately, the Dems are ON IT, with a DRAFT PRESS RELEASE citing an anonymous Hill staffer who says a GROUP THAT REPORTS TO THE LEADERSHIP are planning to discuss how this might be worked into proposals to be submitted to a working group that vets ITEMS TO BE ADDED TO HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEE AGENDAS, possibly as early as SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER!!
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
When they have to take care of late-stage dementia granny at home, we can remind them that they owned us libs, and that should make it all worthwhile.
zhena gogolia
@bbleh: Too bad the American voters chose to give all three branches of government to the Republicans. That’s where my anger is directed these days.
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: I left out “rapist” and “pedophile.”
I hate this timeline more than 2017-2020.
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
What else could they do? The alternative was a Black woman. Unthinkable!
Suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: Oh yes, we need to be absolutely insufferable and rub it the fuck in. “Aw geez, I’m so sorry about your terrible situation. But I feel well and properly owned. I hope that sustains you in these hard times.”
ETA: Maybe this is why I don’t have any Republican friends anymore.
ETA2: It’s awesome.
bbleh
@zhena gogolia: Yeah but it’s still possible to do politics! It’s still possible to be an effective opposition! Look at what the Republicans were able to do in the minority in both the House and (especially) the Senate!
And said voters aren’t gonna be inclined to change their minds unless they’re sold on an alternative.
Maybe I just have a surfeit of anger …
zhena gogolia
@bbleh: We’ve been over this a million times. The Republicans always, always have the media on their side. That’s why they can do things when they’re in the minority.
Baud
@bbleh:
What did they do in the minority that didn’t have the support of the media
ETA: Zhena beat me to it.
In any event, Republicans’ biggest asset is the strength and focus of their voters.
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: Oh wunderground has some orange radar to the west inline with the north side!
Probably gonna be movie time soon.
(My brother commented as a toddler, “This is a good movie!” to our parents while watching a storm on the front porch.)
Jay
@lowtechcyclist:
Birds aren’t real.
Another Scott
@bbleh:
AirAndSpaceForces.com (from July 16):
Being in the minority sucks.
The solution is to regain the majority.
Best wishes,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
@lowtechcyclist: Oh, that now-non-existent Medicaid that paid for the now-shut-down nursing home…
Princess
@bbleh: It’s possible to be an effective opposition —up to a point — in a legislative body in which the government is trying to pass legislation. This government is mostly working outside the legislature with a bit assistance from the court.
Jay
@Princess:
A bit?
mrmoshpotato
@Jay: Oh? Then what is the Canada goose? Angry flying dinosaur?
Melancholy Jaques
@zhena gogolia:
Mine too. That asshole and his cohort of corruption are only doing what we all knew they would do. The bigots and shitheads that voted for them are the ones responsible.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: ❤️ your brother.
Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
It’s a Government Surveillance Drone with anger issues.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_Aren%27t_Real
danielx
@Suzanne:
You gotta admit, for him personally (and what else count?) it’s pretty damn good business. Of course ketchup futures will shoot up if he doesn’t get to keep it.
Of course it does give rise to the question of exactly what would be in the prospective Trump Presidential Library. It’s not like there are going to be paper records to speak of, what with the First Felon being allergic to potentially incriminating paper.
danielx
@mrmoshpotato:
They did know, they just didn’t care. Far as they are concerned he hates the same people they hate the most so he’s their guy.
And that’s just the ones who don’t think he’s literally heaven-sent. Granted there’s a lot of overlap between the two groups.
Jay
They will steal money from everywhere and everyone,
cckids
@danielx:
It will be full of those stupid “portraits”, and the NFT cards with him magically slimmed down and cosplaying as various Village People or superheroes. And 90% of it will be a gift shop.
JoyceH
To the Qataris, it’s a thirteen year old has-been white elephant that they’re looking to unload. But to Trump, it’s a slick new(ish) replacement for the thirty-four year old Trump Force One. For a rich guy, he sure can glom onto other people’s hand-me-downs.
bbleh
@zhena gogolia: @Baud: uhhh, abused the filibuster? bulldozed judicial appointments? just off the top of my head.
Granted that they know how to manipulate the media better than Dems do, and also granted that they have a more loyal and focused base because of their comparative political homogeneity and their base’s predilection for authoritarianism.
BUT.
Politics isn’t just what happens in the Capitol! One of the reasons Republicans have such strong state-level organizations is they cultivate them all the time, not just in election season. And they feed their base (yes, in part with their house propaganda org, which the Dems lack, but only in part) all the time! Plus their messaging is coordinated across their leadership and down to the state and local levels! They do politics effectively both within and outside DC, and they do it relentlessly.
It ain’t just the media environment. (Hell, that’s what Republicans used to say about Democrats.)
Jay
@cckids:
Plus reprints from his “Emotional Support” printer, print out posters of his “Truth Social” posts and of course, all the Classified Information he stole in his first term and is busy stealing in his second term.
Baud
@bbleh:
We use the filibuster too
ETA: Their base is also bigger and politically smarter.
I agree the Republicans are better at politics for a lot of reasons. Dems will never be as good. Constant hand wringing about it won’t change it.
Jay
@Baud:
Their “base” is not bigger, nor are they politically smarter.
What they are is more fanatical, fully programmed and almost always turn out.
Baud
@Jay:
We disagree. Politically smarter is more subjective, I grant you. I’m confident they’re bigger. We need more people outside our base to win. Not impossible, but it means dealing with very different personalities.
satby
@zhena gogolia: right? But the butthurt never ends.
satby
And Democrats prefer to slash their party to death by a million petty little snipes.
Another Scott
@satby:
Relatedly, … Will Stancil
@whstancil.bsky.social
The man predicted the future and he told you exactly how it was going to happen, too
[ image of David Roberts (DrVolts) tweets from November 2023 ]
Spooky.
:-(
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jay
@Baud:
pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/the-partisanship-and-ideology-of-american-voters/
Their “base” more reliably turns out.
The Democratic Base does not, and is often splintered by various “issues” that they disagree with the Party Platform, often “Democrats aren’t doing enough”, etc.
ReThugs hold their noses and willingly vote for a quadrice-indicted twice-impeached once-convicted popular-vote-losing adderall-huffing pedo-bestie-schmoozing insurrection-leading ear-diapering testimony-ducking judge-threatening lawyer-ignoring debate-avoiding witness-tampering disabled-veteran-dishonoring inheritance-squandering rube-fleecing clown-makeup-smearing language-mangling sneaker-hawking serial-sexual-predating draft-dodging casino-bankrupting butler-bullying daughter-perving hush-money-paying real-estate-scamming bone-spur-faking ketchup-hurling justice-obstructing classified-war-plan-thieving golf-cheating stock-manipulating weather-map-defacing war-criminal-pardoning horse-paste-promoting paper-towel-flinging race-baiting tax-evading evidence-destroying charity-defrauding money-laundering diaper-filling 88-count 79-year-old fluorescent-tangerine narcoleptic fart factory,
and all the R’s down ballot as well.
ReThuglicanism is a cult.
Baud
@Jay:
Party identification ≠ base voters
Jay
thetyee.ca/Culture/2025/07/25/Triumph-of-Stupidity/
Jay
@Baud:
Got it, some times you don’t vote, sometimes you vote R.
persistentillusion
@Jay: Should have credited Jeff Tiedrich, as he put together that epic put-down.
satby
@Another Scott: I think I read that at the time and had forgotten it, but he was dead on, wasn’t he?
Jay
@persistentillusion:
I did earlier,
gene108
@bbleh:
The SAVE Act has stalled in the Senate, despite passing in the House.
congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22
There are a lot of horrors that are blocked by Democratic opposition.
Democrats do need to be more ruthless. Trying to return to a pre-Trump “norm” will not work any longer.
gene108
@Another Scott:
The comments prove David Robert’s point splendidly.