Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 from Qatar for President Donald Trump’s use as Air Force One, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, amid ongoing concerns over the ethics and legality of accepting such a costly gift from a foreign government.
"The secretary of defense (Pete Hegseth) has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Parnell said the Pentagon "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."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled legislation Monday that would block Trump from using the luxury jet to serve as Air Force One.
The Presidential Airlift Security Act of 2025 would prevent the Pentagon from using any funds to procure, modify, restore or maintain aircraft previously owned by foreign governments or their representatives for presidential airlift purposes.
A group of Senate Democrats said last week that Trump's public statement about accepting the aircraft provides a "dangerous opportunity to exploit for foreign intelligence agencies and adversaries seeking to do harm" to the U.S.
During his visit to the Middle East, Trump said he would accept the Boeing 747 to serve as the next Air Force One.
Trump has defended the gift, which came up during his recent Middle East trip, as a way to save tax dollars.
"Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE," Trump posted on his social media site during the trip.
Others, however, have said Trump's acceptance of an aircraft that has been called a "palace in the sky" is a violation of the Constitution's prohibition on foreign gifts. Democrats have been united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president's GOP allies in Congress have expressed concerns.
They also have noted the need to retrofit the plane to meet security requirements, which would be costly and take time.
"Far from saving money, this unconstitutional action will not only cost our nation its dignity, but it will force taxpayers to waste over 1 billion in taxpayer dollars to overhaul this particular aircraft when we currently have not one, but two fully operational and fully capable Air Force One aircraft," said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
She said during a hearing Tuesday that it is a "dangerous course of action" for the U.S. to accept the aircraft from the Qatari ruling family.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators that Hegseth has ordered the service to start planning how to update it to meet needed standards and acknowledged that the plane will require "significant" modifications.
