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President Donald Trump was asked about the new jumbo jet Qatar’s royal family has offered to the US Department of Defense to serve as a replacement to Air Force One, saying that a replacement is well needed given how old the current plane is, and that it was a "great gesture" from Qatar then blasted ABC News after the network's report on the matter.
"We're very disappointed that it's taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One, you know, we have an Air Force One that's 40 years old," Trump told reporters on Monday. "And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it's not even the same ball game."
"When I first came in, I signed an order to get it built. I took it over from the Obama administration. They had originally agreed. I got the price down much lower, and then when the election didn't exactly work out the way that it should have, a lot of work was not done on the plane, because a lot of people didn't know they made change orders that were so stupid, so ridiculous, and it ended up being a total mess, a real mess."
He said that when he returned to office, "I said, 'By the way, what's going on with the Boeings that are coming in?' 'Well, sir, they're way behind,' and they are. They're way behind. They were way behind. Another mess that I inherited from Biden, and it's going to be a while before we get them."
Trump said that Qatar, who "we've helped them a lot over the years in terms of security and safety" and knew a lot about the planes because "they buy Boeings," said "We would like to do something. And if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they're building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture."
"Now I could be a stupid person to say, oh, no, we don't want a free plane. We give free things that we'll take one too, and it helps us out. Because, again, we're talking about we have 40-year-old aircraft. The money we spend, the maintenance we spend on those planes to keep them tippy top is astronomical. You wouldn't even believe it."
"So I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump added.
When asked if he planned to use the plane after leaving office, Trump replied, "No, I don't, no. It would, it would go directly to the library after I leave office, I wouldn't be using it, no." He had said prior to the question that a plane had been decommissioned by former President Ronald Reagan and was placed into his presidential library after it reached "a certain age."
ABC senior political correspondent Rachel Scott asked about how people viewed the gift, telling Trump, "What do you say to people who view that luxury jet as a personal gift to you? Why not leave it behind?"
"You're ABC fake news, right?" Trump replied, saying she should feel "embarrassed" for the question. "They're giving us a free jet, I could say no, no, no, don't give us, I want to pay you a billion or $400 million or whatever it is, or I could say, 'Thank you very much,'" he added.
"It's not a gift to me, it's a gift to the Department of Defense, and you should know better because you've been embarrassed enough and so has your network, your network is a disaster, ABC is a disaster."
English (US) ·