From an airplane hangar in Maryland, President Donald Trump showed off the new Air Force One plane, a Boeing 747 jet gifted from Qatar on June 19.
Trump accepted the plane in May 2025 after long bemoaning the Air Force One planes and criticizing Boeing for taking a long time to make new ones.
Trump called the new plane a “flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody’s ever seen before.” The donated plane, worth $400 million, sparked ethics concerns, but Trump said in 2025 he would be a “stupid person” to reject the plane.
It also won’t be a “flying White House” for long. The plane is only slated to be Air Force One, the designation for whatever plane the president flies in, 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. Where will it be?
Where will Trump’s library be?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in September allotted a 2.63-acre parcel of land operating as a parking lot for Miami-Dade College to the future presidential center. The land is located next to the Freedom Tower landmark near the water in downtown Miami.
A rendering of the library and museum released by Eric Trump shows it will become a glass skyscraper with “TRUMP” at the top.
In the rendering video, a plane sits in what looks like a lobby framed by a golden archway. Though the plane in the video is robin’s egg blue like the old Air Force One plane, the Qatari gift has been painted red, white and blue. Renderings of the inside of the building show multiple mezzanines looking over the plane, some connected by a golden escalator reminiscent of the one he came down in Trump Tower, New York, to announce his presidential candidacy.
Like Obama’s, the library will not be traditional
Former President Barack Obama opened the doors to his presidential center on Juneteenth weekend in Chicago. Instead of creating a traditional presidential library that houses the presidential records, he digitized the records, made a ticketed museum, and created a 19-acre park with community amenities. It is run by the nonprofit Obama Foundation.
Trump’s building is also likely to break from tradition.
“It’s going to be most likely a hotel,” Trump said in the Oval Office on March 31. “This concept, could be office but it’s most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick.”
Trump and DeSantis were sued by a Miami nonprofit and residents on May 13, alleging the donated land is an “emolument” from a state government, prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
“Flouting this prohibition, Florida officials have given the President a piece of state-owned property worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” the lawsuit stated. The property was appraised at $67 million by the county, according to a New York Times story cited by the lawsuit, but a real estate consultant estimated the property could sell for at least $360 million. “Importantly, the Florida Board’s conveyance does not restrict President Trump or the Trump Library Foundation from developing a for-profit commercial or residential property — such as a hotel — on the MDC Parcel.”
The White House on June 23 referred questions to the Trump Library Foundation. Legal representatives for the foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contributing: Joey Garrison and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The new Air Force One from Qatar is destined for Trump’s Florida library
Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
