Donald Trump has been associated with airlines for much of his professional career, from the Trump Shuttle, to his earlier corporate Boeing 727, to his upgraded Boeing 757 (which he started calling Trump Force One), to Air Force One, to his newest presidential plane gifted to the United States by Qatar.
Trump has also been connected to airplane-related issues, such as suing Palm Beach County multiple times, including over flight paths from the county’s main airport that he said disturbed his Mar-a-Lago mansion, and seeing the county rename Palm Beach International Airport the Donald J. Trump International Airport, which will happen in July 2026.
Here’s a look at Trump, his planes, and his association with airports.
The new Qatari-gifted Air Force One
This Boeing 747-B will soon serve as the new Air Force One.
The plane has been retrofitted and has a new color scheme — shiny red, white, and blue — which Trump helped design. It marks a shift from the iconic white and two-toned blue livery designed by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
“We like the baby blue, but it was time for a change,” Trump said.
The new Air Force One features the presidential seal and the words “United States of America” along its side.
Trump accepted the plane from the Qatari royal family in May 2025 and has dubbed it a “palace in the sky.”
The U.S. Air Force said converting the Qatari 747 was necessary. Normally, U.S. military aircraft are bought new from manufacturers like Boeing to ensure they haven’t been sabotaged or fitted with spyware. The Air Force said it had to develop new procedures to scan the Qatari 747 for possible security risks, and it can use that expertise to buy and screen used aircraft in the future.
Pentagon officials have said the total cost of the plane’s overhaul won’t exceed $400 million. But aviation experts cited by NBC News estimated the overhaul of the plane could cost more than $1 billion because of the installation of multiple top-secret systems.
The new plane stretches 18 feet, 4 inches longer than the outgoing Air Force One, can carry more weight and fly slightly faster and farther. It’s also 22 years newer than the old Air Force One.
Both planes hold about the same number of passengers and have the same height.
But the Qatari plane separates itself most visibly with its lavish inside amenities — including creamy tan and leather furnishings, rugs, and artwork designed by the famed French interior design firm Cabinet Alberto Pinto.
“The other plane was about 35 years old, and it was time. I want to thank the emir of Qatar. He’s a fantastic guy,” Trump said, referring to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
NBC News reported that Trump was considering taking the inaugural flight on the new Air Force One to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for its America 250 celebration.
Trump said he expected the new Air Force One to lead a flyover at the July Fourth celebration in Washington, DC.
But the new plane won’t be a “flying White House” for long. The plane is only slated to be Air Force One until 2028, when Boeing’s two new presidential 747s are expected to be complete. After that, the Qatari plane will go to Trump’s future presidential library.
Before Air Force One, there was Trump Force One
Trump Force One is Trump’s private aircraft that he used before becoming president and then again during his 2024 comeback campaign. The iconic Boeing 757 is primarily used by Trump, his immediate family and Trump Organization or campaign staff, especially for political travel and high-profile trips.
It is often parked on the tarmac by Atlantic Aviation off Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach. Atlantic Aviation operates as one of the fixed-base operators on the grounds of Palm Beach International Airport.
Before becoming president, locals knew Trump was in town when the 757, emblazoned with “TRUMP” on its side, was parked at Atlantic Aviation hangars.
The aircraft was refurbished and repainted during his first term as president following circulation on social media of images of the aircraft in an apparent state of disrepair at a New York state airfield.
When did Trump buy the Boeing 757 (Trump Force One)?
Trump bought the 757 in 2011. While he wouldn’t say how much he paid for it, The Palm Beach Post reported that he bought it for $100 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.Trump did say the plane was quiet, a gift to his part-time neighbors in Palm Beach, who had complained at times about the noise from the plane when it approached or took off from the airport.”It’s one of the quietest airplanes there is,” Trump said. “I did that for the benefit of Palm Beach.”
“I bought a great airplane,” Trump, then a TV show celebrity, told The Post at the time.
The aircraft upgrade sparked speculation over whether Trump would run against then-President Barack Obama in 2012.
But Trump, at the time known for starring in “The Apprentice,” remained coy about his political aspirations at the time.
“It’s a big plane,” Trump said in the 2011 interview. “We’ll see what happens.”
Trump used Trump Force One to ferry dignitaries for his party
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club hosts a number of parties and balls each “social season” in Palm Beach (normally late October through April). One of those is the annual and much-anticipated International Red Cross Ball, which draws ambassadors and diplomatic figures from Washington, DC to Palm Beach.
For years, Trump was the chairman of ambassadorial arrangements for the ball.
Back in the day, when the ball was at its peak, Trump would supply his personal jet to transport the ambassadors to and from Washington, DC. Ambassadors to the United States from Hungary, Belgium, South Korea, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, Afghanistan and other nations would attend the red-carpet event.
Plane costs were $100,000 every time it took to skies, Trump said
At one point in 2004, Trump was not happy that the Palm Beach County chapter of the American Red Cross had dismissed four-year Red Cross Ball chairwoman Diana Ecclestone.
Trump told Palm Beach Daily News social columnist Shannon Donnelly that because of her dismissal he would stop lending his plane to ferry guests to the ball.”I think the way they treated Diana was terrible,” he said. “She worked so hard for them. She was on the phone to my office 10 times a day. She was relentless.””That plane’s not cheap,” Trump said. “It’s $100,000 every time I send it. I only did it for Diana. But no more.”
Trump used his private plan during his 2016 campaign for president
In the 2016 campaign, Trump barnstormed the country on the 757. The plane served as the backdrop at dozens of airport-hangar rallies across the swing states.
After he was sworn in as president in January 2017, Trump had to stop using the aircraft and instead flew aboard Air Force One. The presidential aircraft then became a tourist attraction of sorts when parked off Southern Boulevard during Trump’s 30-plus visits to Palm Beach during his first term in office.
During one of earliest mentions of a new Air Force One, during an interview with ABC News in 2019, Trump said he planned to give Air Force One a makeover. He then unveiled pictures of the redesign.Trump Force One was refurbished and repainted around 2022 after posts on social media showed images of the aircraft in an apparent state of disrepair at a New York state airfield.The aircraft returned to service around the time Trump decided to launch his 2024 comeback campaign for the White House.
It’s unclear what was changed on the interior, but what was obvious was that a red “T” outlined in white on the tail fin had been replaced with an American flag.
Trump’s smaller 727 private plane
Trump once had a Boeing 727, which was half the size of his current Trump Force One 757.
It was originally part of the Trump Shuttle fleet in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Once the shuttle fleet changed hands, Trump repurchased the 727 and converted it into his personal jet.
It was fitted with gold-plated sinks, two conference tables, a master bedroom and seating for 24 passengers. It also was used to ferry ambassadors and dignitaries from Washington, DC to his Mar-a-Lago estate for parties.
Once he bought the bigger Boeing 757, Trump tried to sell the 727 in 2009 for a reported $8 million. It had no takers until about 2011.Trump’s airplane broker sent an e-mail to The Palm Beach Post in 2011 saying that “all reasonable offers” would be considered for the then-43-year-old plane.Aviation sources told The Post back then that the plane was old, guzzled gas and was loud, although Trump said he had the plane altered to reduce noise.Trump said at the time that he might still keep the 727, reporting in 2011 identified the former Trump jet flying for Weststar Aviation Services, a Malaysian operator using it for corporate/VIP transport.
According to aviation enthusiasts, the aircraft was eventually retired and slated for destruction; sections of its skin and interior were recovered and turned into “PlaneTags” and similar collectibles marketed as pieces of Trump’s former 727.
(Trump) likes the public attention
In a 1998 story about private jets, The Palm Beach Post reported that Trump was rare among private plane customers because his name was emblazoned in gold script lettering on his black Boeing 727 with red trim.
“He likes the public attention,” Norbert Ehrich, manager of marketing for Jet Aviation, a company that refuels, cleans and repairs business jets at PBIA, told The Post at the time.
“Most people have a simple registration number,” Ehrich said. “They’re not too keen on letting everyone know they have a jet.”
The story explained why people chose to fly private planes instead of commercial airlines, with privacy and saving valuable time (if you could afford the cost) being the main reasons.
“An executive will get on an aircraft at night, sleep, get up, shower, and he doesn’t lose any time,” Ehrich said.
Trump’s pilot at the time said Trump saw his Boeing jet as a business tool.
“That airplane is a working airplane. He does a lot of work on the plane. He makes calls from the plane and he has people on the plane to discuss business,” said Mike Donovan. “You couldn’t do that on a commercial jet.”
The short-lived Trump Shuttle
Donald Trump bought airplanes and created Trump Shuttle, Inc., usually referred to as the Trump Shuttle.
It operated shuttle flights in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mainly on the Boston–New York–Washington, DC corridor. Trump bought the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle operation for about $365 million.
The Trump Shuttle began service with 21 Boeing 727 jetliners and more than 1,000 employees, including about 800 former Eastern pilots, mechanics and flight attendants who had been on strike.
Bruce Nobles, then-president of the Trump Shuttle, said at the time that the interior of the planes would have soft leather seats, “airfones” and a motif decorated with bird’s-eye maple veneer with embroidered scenes of Boston, New York and Washington, DC. On weekdays, one-way shuttle fares started out at $99 while one-way fares on weekends were $69.
The Palm Beach Post was at then-Washington National Airport (it eventually became Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) in June 1989 when Trump rode on one of his shuttles’ first flights.
Along with a Post reporter, greeting Trump at the airport was a circus of TV cameras, champagne, PR people, red-and-white balloons, tuxedoed waiters, gushing young women and violinists playing “If I Were A Rich Man.””Truthfully, it was great for the Trump ego,” Trump said when asked how it felt to fly over Trump Tower and his other New York properties aboard his Trump Shuttle.”I want the shuttle to be a diamond,” Trump said.
The shuttle didn’t last long.
Weighed down by heavy debt and never turning a profit, the Trump Shuttle was handed over to its creditor banks in 1991 and formally disappeared in 1992, when it was merged into a new company called Shuttle, Inc., which relaunched the service under USAir management. By April 1992, it rebranded as the USAir Shuttle.
Trump sued the airport that would later be named after him
Donald Trump and his companies repeatedly sued over flight paths and noise from Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), beginning with a 1995 suit that was settled in 1996, followed by additional challenges in the 2000s and a high‑profile 2015 lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages for allegedly “deliberately” routing planes over Mar‑a‑Lago.
The pattern of litigation was summarized by airport attorneys as four separate Trump‑related suits over about two decades, all of which ended without findings of liability against Palm Beach County or the airport.
In one such lawsuit, Trump in 2010 filed a lawsuit against PBI to stop the airport from adding a new runway. For years before, Trump had complained about the noise from planes flying over his Mar-a-Lago.
In 2011, the FAA put the kibosh on the plan, saying that the airport would need to reach higher levels of air traffic to justify another runway.Sources told The Palm Beach Post at the time that Trump might have had something to do with that FAA decision, but Trump denied it.Trump did sing the praises of the FAA, which he said acted “unbelievably responsibly” in finding there was no need for the runway now. “I’m extremely impressed with the FAA,” Trump said.”They realized this runway won’t be needed for 40 years based on traffic.”
The airport Trump sued will now bear his name
Palm Beach International Airport will change its name to Donald J. Trump International airport in July. According to the airport’s website, the name change will become effective July 9, 2026.
The move to rename the airport began when state Rep. Meg Weinberger, a Republican from Palm Beach Gardens, sponsored a bill.
Then, Florida lawmakers, mostly Republicans, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran against Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, passed legislation that shifted naming authority for major commercial airports from local governments to the state. Part of that ordered that PBIA be retitled President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
Under the law, Palm Beach County still owns and operates the airport but must work through a licensing deal with Trump’s company, which controls the “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” trademark.
Palm Beach County commissioners who voted 4–3 to approve the licensing agreement did so reluctantly, with some saying they were legally constrained to comply with the state mandate while trying to shield local taxpayers.
County staff told The Palm Beach Post that the cost of rebranding would be at least $5.5 million, considering new signs, logos, and uniforms — expenses legislators in Tallahassee agreed to cover in the state budget.
Part of a street near the airport was renamed after Trump
When Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport, he normally takes Southern Boulevard to his Mar-a-Lago home.
In January 2026, a 4-mile portion of Southern Boulevard from Mar-a-Lago on the east to PBIA on the west now bears signs designating it as “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”
Trump was formally presented with the road markers during a gathering on Jan. 16 in the White & Gold Ballroom at his Palm Beach club.
Trump said he was “tremendously honored” by the renaming of roadway.
“Today’s dedication ceremony for President Donald J. Trump Boulevard has special meaning to me, because I’ve always had the unique bond with the great state of Florida,” he said.
“When people see that beautiful sign is all lit up nice at night and it says Donald J. Trump Boulevard, they’ll be filled with pride, just pride, not in me, pride in our country, right, in the state, because our nation will be stronger, richer and more successful, which is what it is right now.”
Weinberger, who also sponsored the bill to rename the airport after Trump, sponsored the legislation to rename the roadway.
She credited her husband with the idea.
“I grew up respecting those that serve, and I feel like President Trump has certainly done so much for our community. I think at the end of the day, President Trump is a two-term president, and it’s the right thing to do,” she said.
John Bisognano is Executive Editor of The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at jbisognano@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Airport soon to be renamed Trump. His long history with airplanes
Reporting by John Bisognano, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Bisognano, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
