Chris Murphy Asks Air Force Chief Point Blank: Will Trump Keep Air Force One After He Leaves Office?

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At Thursday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing , Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) questioned Air Force Secretary Hon. Troy E. Meink about ownership of Air Force One when President Trump leaves office.

Transcript

00:00Senator Murphy, Senator Capito, Senator Sheehan.

00:04Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:05Thank you all for being here today and for your service.

00:08I wanted to spend my time trying to dig into the details of our Air Force One program.

00:18If the facts are as I understand it, this looks like one of the bigger wastes of money inside your budget,

00:26but it also presents some real ethical and moral problems for this committee.

00:33So, Mr. Secretary, if I can just sort of understand what's happening here,

00:37because obviously the facts have been changing pretty quickly over the last five months.

00:42We obviously have this very big $4 billion contract with Boeing,

00:46and they are building two planes to replace the current Air Force One.

00:50You testified in the House earlier that you believe those planes are on track to be ready by 2028.

00:58Is that still your estimate?

01:01Senator, we are looking at whether or not we can accelerate the delivery to 28.

01:08That was not where it originally was.

01:10We are looking to move that forward.

01:12And what's your understanding of the transfer of the Qatari jet when Secretary Hegseth was before this committee?

01:19He said that the MOU had not been signed,

01:22but there's also been public reporting that we're in possession of the airplane.

01:27Senator, I can't speak to the details of where the MOU is in its process.

01:34I would say we are the Department of the Air Force's position to take possession of that airplane

01:39and execute the required modifications to allow it to act as an interim aircraft until we get the B-25s or the 25Bs.

01:51We're happy to discuss, actually, the details of that, but we'll have to do it at a higher classification.

01:57And I understand the details of these agreements are classified,

02:01but, you know, whether or not they exist, I do not think need to be classified.

02:06So do you have a contract yet for the retrofit of the Qatari plane?

02:13We have, I'm not sure if we actually have finally signed the contract,

02:17but we have discussed it with the contractor.

02:19We are in a position to execute that once we take possession of the aircraft.

02:24I don't know, General, if you know the actual state of the contract.

02:27We're positioned to start executing as soon as you take possession of the aircraft, though.

02:30You've testified that that may be in the neighborhood of $400 million.

02:35That sounds just, quite honestly, wildly rosy to me.

02:38From what I understand from folks who do this kind of work,

02:42that could ultimately be a contract closer to a billion dollars.

02:46But confirm what the number you think is, and when do you think the retrofit would be done?

02:52So this is my comment earlier, is that the specifics of those numbers,

02:59what those numbers mean, relate to the actual specific modifications

03:03and what we're doing with the aircraft, and that needs to be done at a higher classification.

03:06And what's the date you think that that retrofit would be done?

03:11I expect it'll take us just short of a year.

03:14Just short of a year.

03:15So you don't have the contract yet.

03:17The work's going to take a year.

03:19That sounds like this plane is going to be ready sometime at the end of 2026.

03:26And then you've got a plane, you've got the Boeing planes ready a year later.

03:31So we're going to spend somewhere between $400 million and a billion dollars

03:35to get a bridge plane that only lasts one year or one and a half years?

03:40So, Senator, we are positioned to deliver the aircraft a year after we take possession.

03:47Again, the 25B date is 28, probably at the earliest.

03:54So it will be more than a year, Senator.

03:55And your understanding is that this plane, when the Boeings are ready,

04:01will go to President Trump's personal possession?

04:05I couldn't speak to that, Senator.

04:07Can you commit that they will not ultimately end up in President Trump's personal possession?

04:13So, Senator, I couldn't speak to that.

04:15I'm fairly certain that's not in my authority.

04:17Well, but isn't that relevant to the committee?

04:20Isn't it relevant as to whether we want to spend $400 million to $1 billion?

04:25If the plane only is in the U.S. possession for a year and then it becomes President Trump's personal possession,

04:34that doesn't sound like a great use of my taxpayer dollars.

04:38Isn't that a really important, relevant question?

04:42Would that matter to you?

04:43Well, Senator, I can just speak what I've been asked to do and what we signed up to do,

04:48which is the current 25 is challenged from a readiness perspective, very challenged.

04:56It's a very old aircraft.

04:58The 25Bs are going to show up later than we'd initially hoped for,

05:03and I've been asked to modify this aircraft as soon as we get possession of it,

05:08and we are positioned to do that.

05:10Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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