Furious Trump Sics Musk on Boeing to Deliver New Air Force One Jets [View all]
Source: Daily Beast
Updated Feb. 23 2025 3:49AM EST | Published Feb. 22 2025 7:06PM EST
A furious President Donald Trump has deputized Elon Musk to badger Boeing into delivering two new Air Force One jets—a project that has been been derailed by PR nightmares and technical issues, according to a report. The president has urged Musk to take drastic measures, such as rolling back security clearance standards for those working on the presidential planes, The New York Times reported earlier this week.
According to several inside sources, Trump is reportedly livid about having to fly in the same presidential planes that have been in use for more than 30 years, dating back to George H.W. Bush’s term. Trump has pushed for the new planes to have a patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme—rather than the current light blue and white color—despite thermal issues raised by the dark blue.
During his four years out of office, Trump kept a model version of the new presidential jet in his office at Mar-a-Lago, the Times reported. “They’ve been building this thing forever,” Trump said during his joint Fox News interview with Musk this week. “I don’t know what’s going on.” Boeing originally signed the contract for the project in 2018, during Trump’s first term. The jets were supposed to be ready for use in 2024. It now looks as if they won’t be finished until near the end of Trump’s second stint in office.
The endeavor has been beset by a series of disasters. On the PR side, the company has dealt with lapsed security clearances for its workers and an instance where empty tequila bottles were found onboard one of the planes. In one technical setback, the team working on the project had to repair tiny cracks discovered in the structures for the two planes. The COVID pandemic also contributed to the delays by making it harder to find workers and causing supply-chain issues.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/furious-trump-sics-musk-on-boeing-to-deliver-new-air-force-one-jets/
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