Donald Trump may not be taking his luxury Boeing 747 home with him.
The president has made clear his intention to claim the Qatari-gifted jumbo jet as a parting souvenir when he leaves office, envisioning it as the crown jewel of his planned presidential library in downtown Miami. But that plan is facing serious obstacles—and Democrats are determined to make sure it doesn’t happen, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
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On June 24, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) filed an amendment to the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would legally block the aircraft from being transferred to any individual or entity. Republican leadership shut down the amendment before it could reach a vote. But if Democrats flip the House in November’s midterms, Courtney will have a much better shot at passing it, with Democrats sensing a huge opportunity to “get under the skin” of the president, the Journal’s Marcus Weisgerber wrote.
The problem for Trump runs deeper than just congressional opposition. The aircraft, valued at roughly $400 million and upgraded with an additional $400 million in taxpayer-funded military communications and safety equipment, follows strict protocols for military aircraft retirement.
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“There is standard protocol for retiring military aircraft—first and foremost there are no more military requirements for it,” Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told the Journal.
Then there’s the physical impossibility of Trump’s vision.
According to the report, “… there are the complex logistics of moving a 250-foot-long plane. Getting the double-deck aircraft into the building lobby “is going to be a trick,” Trump said in March. Putting the forward fuselage of a retired Boeing 747 into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington required workers to cut the plane into numerous pieces and then reassemble it.”
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