Air Force One is receiving a first-class upgrade, President Trump has confirmed.
“Air Force One is going to be incredible. It’s gonna be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it’s gonna be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate,” Trump told CBS News during his trip abroad.
President Trump confirms big changes are in store for Air Force One. He tells @CBSEveningNews‘ @JeffGlor the new model of the plane will be updated, both inside and out and will be painted red, white and blue.
“It’s going to be the top of the line, the top in the world.” -POTUS pic.twitter.com/5TX1qA3mcI
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 17, 2018
Trump’s confirmation follows Axios reporting Trump wanted Air Force One to have a “more American” aesthetic, as opposed to the white and robin’s-egg blue color scheme chosen for President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s.
The two new Boeing 747s that have been ordered are also expected to feature larger, more comfortable presidential beds.
The White House announced in February that Trump and the U.S. Air Force had negotiated a $3.9 billion “fixed price contract” with Boeing, with the planes scheduled to be ready by 2021.
“Boeing gave us a good deal. And we were able to take that,” Trump told CBS. “I was able to save $1.5 billion and order a new one for the country.”
The deal comes after Trump tweeted about the negotiations in December 2016, saying Boeing’s original offer of more than $4 billion to replace the aircraft that have been in service since 1990 “was out of control,” according to CNN.
“Cancel order!” he tweeted.
Air Force One has long been used to describe any Air Force plane carrying a president, but since the 1950s it has become “standard practice” for the phrase to refer to two customized Boeing 747-200B airliners, per the White House.
