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'Last ride': US says goodbye to Air Force One as Qatari jet awaits
yahoo ^ | 06/19/2026

Posted on 06/19/2026 9:25:16 AM PDT by devane617

Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One?

White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years.

The goodbye messages fueled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now due to enter service.

"'Well done, good and faithful servant. 'The Last Ride,'" Trump's communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of the iconic white and blue jet after returning from the G7 summit in France.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: af1; airforceone; qatar
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FYI
1 posted on 06/19/2026 9:25:16 AM PDT by devane617
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To: devane617
Many here said that the plane couldn't be refurbished so quickly. Trump said that it could.

Well guess what.

2 posted on 06/19/2026 9:29:56 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: devane617

USA would have had to go over this plane 100 percent, part by part, and to make sure of no saboutage or spy gear hidden in it (especially given its Source!!!)

that would have been a tremendous amount of work and it is surprising they could get it done this fast


3 posted on 06/19/2026 9:35:02 AM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: devane617

Did the plane go directly from the manufacturer to the US or first to Qatar? Did Boeing know when building it was going back to the US?

The plane could have been sabotaged while it was being manufactured.


4 posted on 06/19/2026 9:44:16 AM PDT by alternatives?
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To: devane617

“controversially gifted”

Says who....yahoo and the rest of the lib media?

We don’t hate the media enough


5 posted on 06/19/2026 9:51:54 AM PDT by Da Ninja
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To: faithhopecharity

My thoughts exactly. There is no such thing as a gift. It would be waaay too tempting for a foreign power to hide tracking, communications or electronic snooping equipment or worse. I have a hard time believing Trump is this naive.


6 posted on 06/19/2026 9:56:03 AM PDT by con-surf-ative
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To: devane617

Isn’t the 747 being retired by all airliners? Trump may be getting an Air Force One plane with not much future support from the maker.

But, with thousands of those planes getting retired, finding parts wont be a problem.


7 posted on 06/19/2026 9:59:09 AM PDT by adorno ( )
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To: con-surf-ative

yes.
imho, the proper thing to have done would’ve been to give a very diplomatic “thanks but no thanks” at the time of this “gift” (especially considering its source and nature).


8 posted on 06/19/2026 10:05:15 AM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: alternatives?

That question came up when the new plane was first announced. As I recall, the plane was going to be taken apart and examined, and upgraded to the various standards Air Force One requires.


9 posted on 06/19/2026 10:05:21 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: devane617
Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One?

Every time I think the media could not get any more stupid, they prove me wrong.

(1) The plane, itself, is not Air Force One.
(2) When the president flies on it, the new plane will be Air Force One.
(3) The gift was not made to President Trump, himself, but to the United States via the president in his lesser known role as ceremonial head of state.
(4) In our system, the executive and the head of state roles are combined unlike most governments where the roles are separate.

10 posted on 06/19/2026 10:05:33 AM PDT by Avalon Memories (It seems to be a law of nature...that those who will not risk cannot win. --John Paul Jones)
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To: con-surf-ative
I have a hard time believing Trump is this naive.

Yet, you're so naive as to think the plane wasn't stripped to the bones and refurbished.

11 posted on 06/19/2026 10:14:19 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, the Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: T.B. Yoits
They should have gotten rid of the 747s like Obama did with the "cash for clunkers" program. You couldn't find a a used car to buy but here is the government getting used planes from foreign countries.

The replacement should be built on the C-17 platform.



12 posted on 06/19/2026 10:19:06 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits

Cash for Clunkers was stupid and wasteful. A lot of people can only afford to buy a used car, and the idiot government wound up getting rid of lots of useable vehicles.

All it did was benefit well-off people. Obama was a complete fake.


13 posted on 06/19/2026 10:29:37 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: FreeReign

The miracle of non-union labor.


14 posted on 06/19/2026 10:46:11 AM PDT by DownInFlames (P)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

It wasn’t stripped to the bones. It was outfitted with many typical AF1 systems, but not all, meaning it was not a full rebuild, which time would clearly have not allowed.

https://theaviationist.com/2026/01/23/qatari-747-interim-air-force-one-vc-25-bridge/


15 posted on 06/19/2026 11:00:47 AM PDT by Golden Eagle (Don’t let conservatism die, especially not for the sake of crony capitalist power)
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To: devane617

Wonder who has the highest bid for the bed?.


16 posted on 06/19/2026 11:35:54 AM PDT by Vaduz (NEVER TRUST A DEMOCRAT)
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To: Golden Eagle
Thanks for the article.
Maybe it wasn't stripped to the bones but I'll bet the bones were checked thoroughly. As well as anywhere devices could be secreted.
Plus Qatar doesn't want the US as an enemy.

17 posted on 06/19/2026 11:48:34 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, the Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: faithhopecharity

No kidding, but Trump&Team are too stupid to get this?


18 posted on 06/19/2026 12:02:00 PM PDT by xone ( )
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To: Golden Eagle
The Qatari 747 had a lot of the same Head of State security features as our current Air Force One.

L3 Harris took the Qatari 747 and upgraded it to at least the capabilities of the current Air Force One as an interim aircraft while Boeing continues to try to complete it's far behind schedule and over budget mods for the new Air Force One contract aircraft.

I will be interested to see how the Qatari interior has been modded. The interior was originally built to the unique Middle East oil sheikh tastes and sensibilities.

19 posted on 06/19/2026 12:12:38 PM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
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To: Jamestown1630

That is what I hate. The plane is built in the US and thoroughly examined by the government and the media headline focuses on who paid for it.


20 posted on 06/19/2026 12:29:53 PM PDT by alternatives?
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