The media and the Democrats are attacking Donald Trump again. I know—what else is new? This Qatari royal family-747 business got them all hot and bothered, and it’s not all that accurate. The story is that Qatar is going to ‘gift’ Trump a 747, which will be upgraded to be used as Air Force One. Members of the legacy press ‘confirmed’ this story yesterday, except they’re all wrong. Again.
Fake News
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) May 11, 2025
Boeing is so far behind schedule with the new Air Force One ordered years ago that Trump asked a Florida Defense contractor called L3Harris to overhaul a 747 once used by the Qatari government https://t.co/I7Hljtglul
This story was reported on by @jdawsey1 in the WSJ TEN DAYS AGO
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) May 11, 2025
Then today @jonkarl decided to make up a bunch of lies https://t.co/yMDHBHnXPD pic.twitter.com/zIl9cUlCPr
President Trump was asked about it during this executive order signing presser today. The president vowed to reduce the cost of prescription drugs:
President Trump on reports Qatar will gift him a 400 million dollar 747 to use as AF1:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 12, 2025
"I could be a stupid person and say no, we don’t want a free expensive airplane. It was a great gesture and a gesture because of the fact that we have helped and continue to, we will continue… pic.twitter.com/aIZwMUpL8k
I could be a stupid person and say no, we don’t want a free expensive airplane. It was a great gesture and a gesture because of the fact that we have helped and continue to, we will continue to all of those countries. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and others. We keep them safe. If it wasn’t for us they probably wouldn’t exist right now. I think this was just a gesture of good faith."
And ABC News decided to stick their head into the lion’s mouth:
ABC: "What do you say to people who view that luxury jet as a personal gift to you?"@POTUS: "You're ABC Fake News right?... You should be embarrassed asking that question. They're giving us a free jet. I could say no... I want to pay you $1B... Or I could say thank you." pic.twitter.com/Q22i73Asle
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 12, 2025
ABC needs to get out and touch some grass, or in this case, a putting green... https://t.co/zDmEnStZqR
— David Bozell 🇺🇸 (@DavidBozell) May 12, 2025
The media unsurprisingly is missing the most crucial part of the story. Why is Boeing incapable of delivering a new 747 for the president’s travel on time, if at all?
BOEING CAN'T BUILD A NEW AIR FORCE ONE.
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) May 12, 2025
That's the buried lede. It's the central problem.