http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-cost-of-trumps-new-air-force-one-has-skyrocketed-nearly-dollar2-billion-from-the-original-estimate/ar-AAFnNxL?li=BBnb7Kz
According to Air Force Magazine, President Donald Trump's new Air Force One
fleet will cost a total of $5.2 billion total, up from the 2016 estimate of $3.2
billion.
Two Boeing 747-8s are being converted into VC-25s, the model used for VIP
transport. They will serve as the "flying White House" starting in 2024,
although Trump requested that they be ready for use in 2021.
Trump had boasted that he struck a deal with Boeing to lower the cost by $1
billion of renovating the jets, which were originally built for a now-defunct
Russian airline. Boeing will be paid $3.9 billion to build the jets into White
House material. The additional $1.3 billion comes from associated costs, like
building hangars for the new jets. INSIDER reached out to the Air Force for
comment on the new budget estimate, but did not receive a response by press
time.
The new estimate is the first time the Pentagon has actually provided a complete
budget for the project; the number was included in its first formal acquisition
estimate for the project, Air Force Magazine reports.
White Trump has said that his new designs for Air Force One were for the benefit
of future presidents, there's been little discussion about what the upgrades
actually are, besides a new paint job.
In a June interview with George Stephanopoulos, Trump showed off four variations
of the same red, white, and blue paint jobs for the new Air Force One, departing
from the baby-blue color scheme that's been in use since the Kennedy era.
As INSIDER previously reported, the new paint job looks quite a bit like the one
on Trump's personal jet, a Boeing 757.
"It's going to be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it's going to
be red, white, and blue, which I think is appropriate," Trump said.
In the same interview, Trump stated that the new Air Force One "is going to be
incredible."
"We added things," he said, without elaborating.
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