The Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has accepted a Qatar Boeing 747 that President Donald Trump will use as soon as the Pentagon updates to include “appropriate security measures and functional mission requirements”, according to a Defense Department spokesman
“The Secretary of Defense accepted a Qatar Boeing 747 in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement on Wednesday (21).
“The Defense Department will work to ensure that appropriate security measures and functional mission requirements are considered to an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States,” the spokesman added.
A person familiar with the discussions, however, replied that the deal has not yet been finalized and that conversations between legal teams are underway.
Parnell did not answer if the government had paid for the jet and referred any additional questions about the transfer to the US Air Force. THE CNN contacted the Qatar embassy in Washington for comments.
Asked on Wednesday about the reports that the Pentagon had accepted the jet, Trump told reporters that Qatar is “giving the United States Air Force a jet, ok, and that’s a great thing.”
The Prime Minister of Qatar told Bloomberg on Monday (19) that “the history of this plane is a transaction of the Ministry of Defense to the Department of Defense that is made with total transparency and very cool, and is part of the cooperation we have always done together for decades.”
On Tuesday (20), Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Air Force Staff Chief David Allvin told legislators that Hegseth had told the Air Force to start planning the plane modification.
“The Secretary of Defense told the Air Force to basically start planning the modification of the aircraft,” said Meink. “We are prepared for this.”
An Air Force spokesman told the CNN That “as directed by the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force is preparing to grant a contract to modify a Boeing 747 aircraft for executive air transport. The details related to the contract are confidential.”
Active discussions about the transfer of Qatar’s Jet to the Trump administration, which were publicly released earlier this month, caused political fury, as democrats and several influential republicans, who are usually fierce supporters of the president, said they opposed the possible agreement for ethical reasons.
Trump repeatedly promoted the plane as a possible replacement for Air Force One and, on his social media site Truth Social, he described it as a “free gift” of Qatar.
But the CNN He reported that it was the Trump government that first approached Qatar to ask about the acquisition of Boeing 747.
After Trump took office in January, the Air Force contacted Boeing and was informed that the company would not be able to deliver the new jets it was building to replace former presidential planes for another two years.
The Trump government, however, wanted a much faster replacement plane, and the Air Force was exploring different options for it. At the same time, Trump charged his envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to find a list of viable aircraft, told a tall White House employee to CNN .
After the company’s involvement with the company, Boeing provided US defense authorities a list of other customers around the world with airplanes that could work in the meantime, and Qatar was one of them, said the CNN .
The Pentagon began discussions with Qatar after learning that the White House supported the idea, and Witkoff helped facilitate initial conversations, said the White House employee. But the Air Force initially had the impression that any transaction with the Cautarians would involve the sale of the plane – not a donation, defense officials said.
In addition to ethical and legal issues, adapting and installing the necessary safety and communication equipment on a second -hand plane of another government, even if you are a friend, is a monumental task.
Current and old authorities said to CNN That this could take two years and cost much more than the plane itself is worth. US spy and security agencies in charge of the reform would essentially dismantle the aircraft, leaving it only with the structure and rebuild it with the necessary equipment.
This content was originally published in Pentagon accepted Qatar jet that will be used by Donald Trump on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
