Donald Trump's desire to drive down the cost of a new fleet of Air Force One jets could have unexpected consequences: the replacement aircraft may have once been destined for a Russian airline.
According to reports, the US Air Force have been looking for a cheaper option after Trump complained that costs had got "out of control".
A source told AFP they are now close a deal to buy two Boeing 747s originally ordered by Transaero Airlines, says The Guardian.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Defense One reports the planes were abandoned by the Russian airline when it went bankrupt in 2015 and are sitting in the Mojave Desert in southern California. A final deal could be announced by the Pentagon this week.
The average price of the Boeing 747-8 on which the US Air Force will base the presidential plane is $386.8m (£292.3m). It is not known how much the Russian cast-offs would cost.
To prepare the aircraft for Trump and his successors, engineers will add "state-of-the-art communications system, defensive countermeasures and hardening to withstand an electromagnetic pulse caused by a nuclear explosion", Defense One says.
According to The Hill, officials plan to spend $3.2bn (£2.4bn) on the makeover.
The current Air Force One jets have served presidents since George HW Bush in 1990. However, if Trump wishes to fly in the new fleet, he will have to win a second term - the aircraft aren't due to enter service until 2022.
-
‘Let 2026 be a year of reckoning’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Jack Smith: Trump ‘caused’ Jan. 6 riotSpeed Read
-
Wave of cancellations prompts Kennedy Center turmoilIN THE SPOTLIGHT Accusations and allegations fly as artists begin backing off their regularly scheduled appearances
-
Trump considers giving Ukraine a security guaranteeTalking Points Zelenskyy says it is a requirement for peace. Will Putin go along?
-
Why is Trump’s alleged strike on Venezuela shrouded in so much secrecy?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Trump’s comments have raised more questions than answers about what his administration is doing in the Southern Hemisphere
-
Vance’s ‘next move will reveal whether the conservative movement can move past Trump’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What have Trump’s Mar-a-Lago summits achieved?Today’s big question Zelenskyy and Netanyahu meet the president in his Palm Beach ‘Winter White House’
-
Biggest political break-ups and make-ups of 2025The Explainer From Trump and Musk to the UK and the EU, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a round-up of the year’s relationship drama
