The Scoop
The detailed specifications of a Boeing 747 that appears to be the same plane offered by the Qatari government to President Donald Trump are available online, offering a glimpse inside the luxurious jet.
The tail number of the plane, which ABC News first reported would be offered by Qatar to Trump, is visible in photographs of the aircraft during a stop at Palm Beach International Airport earlier this year. That number is a match for the Boeing serial number of a plane marketed by the company in 2020 in reporting at the time.
Though the listing for the plane on the site of the Swiss firm AMAC Aerospace is no longer online, a 16-page “aircraft specification summary” can still be found on its site. The document includes a detailed blueprint of the plane and a list of more than 100 interior parts and their manufacturers, as well as a glimpse at a vessel with many rooms — including an upper deck lounge, master bedroom, club seating area, and private office.
The document also includes images from the interior of the so-called “palace in the sky,” which Trump toured in Palm Beach in February.
The White House, asked about the plane documents and about any security concerns, referred Semafor to Trump’s Truth Social post, where he wrote that the potential aircraft gift is “a very public and transparent transaction.”
The tail number of the plane photographed in Palm Beach also includes the letter HBJ, the initials of a leading Qatari royal and former prime minister who posted on Instagram about visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2018.
It’s unclear whether the plane as depicted in the online specifications has undergone any internal or external changes since the specifications available online were published. The plane will also need additional alterations to meet presidential aircraft requirements, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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This is the second time a leader of a NATO member nation has faced domestic criticism over a Qatari aircraft gift.
In 2018, Qatar gifted a “luxury” 747 to Turkey, Reuters reported at the time, drawing questions from opposition lawmakers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the gift would be “the plane of the Republic of Turkey, not my plane.” In Trump’s case, the plane will reportedly travel with him after he leaves office as a gift to his presidential library.
The gift is part of a vast investment by gas-rich Qatar, which hosts a US military base and has mediated talks with Hamas and the Taliban — playing a geopolitical role larger than its modest size. The country gives widely to governments and causes around the world, as well as financing the global television network Al Jazeera.
Qatar is offering to donate a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to the Defense Department, the White House official confirmed to Semafor, though the gift will not be presented or accepted during Trump’s trip this week. A Qatari official told Politico that while “the possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration,” the matter is still “under review.”
A Homeland Security official in the Obama administration, Juliette Kayyem, also raised security concerns about the plane, which she told Semafor “will need to be literally torn apart to confirm that there’s nothing on board that can compromise security (bugs, etc).” She said the plane lacks the air-to air-refueling capacity that would allow the president to continue to run the government without landing.
“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”