FLYING Magazine
President Donald Trump has made his first flight on the VC-25B Bridge, the modified Boeing 747-8 donated last year by the government of Qatar as a replacement for the 1990s-era Boeing that had served as Air Force One since the administration of George H.W. Bush.
On Wednesday, Trump was accompanied by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina Anderson on the trip from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Medora, North Dakota, where the president is scheduled to tour and speak at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Before climbing the air stairs to the aircraft, the president told a crowd of reports, “To be honest with you, I’m excited about the first flight. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it.”
The jet was built for the Qatari royal family in 2013 and has been described as “a flying palace.” Larger than previous aircraft designated Air Force One, a special hangar had to be built for it at Joint Base Andrews. The aircraft was gifted to the U.S. government in 2025, and underwent modifications to prepare it for use by Trump. The aircraft is a “bridge” aircraft to be used until the purpose-built VC-25Bs are delivered in 2028.
When asked how much federal money it cost to upgrade the gift airplane with required defense and communications systems, Trump replied, “It cost very little relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way. This was a gift from a country that’s treated us very well.”
The VC-25B Bridge aircraft is painted red, white, and blue and sports the presidential seal. This is the first time in 60 years that a Boeing designated as Air Force One has not featured the light blue livery that was selected by First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy.
According to Trump, the new Air Force One will be leading a “massive flyover” of Washington, D.C., on July 4 to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.