With Boeing running years behind schedule on delivering new 747-8 planes, President Donald Trump looked elsewhere in his efforts to upgrade the presidential fleet.
In May 2025, the Trump administration accepted a Boeing 747-8, a private business jet previously used by the Qatari royal family, saying he’d be “stupid” to turn down the gift. The White House said the plane would be “retrofitted to the highest standards” to serve as a new Air Force One.
Known as the VC-25B Bridge since it serves as an interim presidential aircraft, the plane is larger than the VC-25A, measuring 250 feet long, and about 20 years younger. The newer-generation jet can also fly faster and farther with a range of 8,900 miles at 660 miles per hour.
The luxurious jet features spacious interiors with lounges, offices, dining areas, and bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.
The new plane is valued at around $400 million. In June 2025, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink told Congress that retrofitting it for presidential use would cost less than $400 million.
In July, a New York Times investigation identified $934 million had been transferred from a nuclear modernization program to a top-secret project, which the outlet reported could be used to upgrade Trump’s Air Force One. The Air Force declined to comment.
Trump flew on the VC-25B Bridge for the first time on July 1 to dedicate the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. On July 8, Trump switched back to the old VC-25A Air Force One to fly back from a NATO summit in Turkey. He then boarded the VC-25B Bridge for the flight back to Joint Base Andrews.
The switch sparked questions about the new plane’s security and defensive capabilities, but at the time, Trump said it was so that US service members could see the plane.
Trump told reporters on July 19 that the VC-25B Bridge would soon be removed from service for a month to be “maxed out.”
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