{"id":2444126,"date":"2025-06-06T20:54:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/air-force-one-retrofit-price-less-than-half-what-everyone-thought-air-force\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T20:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:56:03","slug":"air-force-one-retrofit-price-less-than-half-what-everyone-thought-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/air-force-one-retrofit-price-less-than-half-what-everyone-thought-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force One Retrofit Price Less Than Half What Everyone Thought: Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fair-force-one-retrofit-price-less-than-half-what-everyone-thought-air-force%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2444126&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >article discusses recent statements<\/a> from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink regarding the estimated costs associated wiht retrofitting a luxury Boeing 747-8, donated by Qatar, for use as Air Force One. While some claims suggested that the conversion would cost over $1 billion, Meink estimated the cost to be less than $400 million, arguing that many associated expenses were already accounted for in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-abolishing-police-is-a-disastrous-idea\/\" title=\"Report: Abolishing Police Is a Disastrous Idea\">existing budgets<\/a>. He emphasized the necessity of conducting thorough checks on the aircraft to safeguard against any intelligence vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Rep.Joe Courtney expressed skepticism about Meink&#8217;s estimate, comparing it to a previous retrofit that significantly exceeded $3 billion and highlighting the extensive modifications needed for secure operations.The U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/writers-strike-ends-with-deal-involving-pay-raise-streaming-bonuses-and-protection-against-ai\/\" title=\"Writers&#039; strike resolved with deal: pay raise, streaming bonuses, AI protection.\">officially accepted<\/a> the aircraft last month, which was previously used by Qatar&#8217;s royal family, and Meink confirmed that efforts would be made to ensure it meets operational requirements before Donald Trump leaves office. Trump defended the acceptance of the gift, portraying it as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-justify-amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants-by-arguing-it-will-increase-deficit\/\" title=\"Democrats Justify Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants by Arguing It Will Increase Deficit\">cost-saving measure<\/a> for the U.S.government.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Claims that it would cost $1 billion or more to transform the jet Qatar gave the United States into Air Force One crash landed Thursday as an Air Force official said the real figure is much lower.<\/p>\n<p>Air Force Secretary Troy Meink appeared Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee. In response to questions, Meink could not provide an exact figure, but gave an estimate that was less than half of what Democrats claim, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/06\/05\/meink-jet-cost-air-force-one-trump-00389325\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There has been a number thrown around a billion dollars, but a lot of those costs associated with that are costs that we&rsquo;ve experienced anyway,&rdquo; Meink said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably less than $400 million to retrofit that aircraft,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Meink noted that the existing Air Force parts budget would cover a significant amount of the cost of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/hillary-clinton-post-qatar-jet-backfires-blocking-comments-nothing-save\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retrofit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Air Force crews would need to do &ldquo;a deep sweep&rdquo; to ensure no intelligence vulnerabilities are in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/boeings-3-9-billion-mistake-paved-way-qatari-jet-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plane, <\/a>he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the Air Force would do &nbsp;&ldquo;whatever we can&rdquo; to ensure that the gift symbolizing the Middle East nation&rsquo;s support for President Donald Trump would be ready for Trump to fly before he leaves office.<\/p>\n<p>Boeing is already behind schedule on its existing contract to supply new planes to replace the existing planes used as Air Force One.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut was displeased with the estimate, saying that because a 2018 retrofit of an existing Air Force One cost $3.9 billion, the cost to upgrade the Qatari gift had to be higher, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/5335939-air-force-chief-qatari-jet-will-cost-less-than-400-million-to-retrofit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[I]t&rsquo;s clear that this new third plane is going to cost well over $1 billion,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t retrofit a plane that&rsquo;s built for another purpose for Air Force One and expect it to be a free plane,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to install encrypted communications technology, you have to harden the defenses, you have to put countermeasures in there. &hellip; It&rsquo;s a flying situation room,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. last month officially accepted the gift, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/5311988-us-accepts-luxury-jet-from-qatar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,&rdquo; chief Pentagon representative Sean Parnell said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The luxury Boeing 747-8 was formerly used by &nbsp;Qatar&rsquo;s royal family.<\/p>\n<p>After the gift provoked criticism, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/qatar-nukes-american-medias-reporting-new-air-force-one-reveals-real-deal-great-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump<\/a> went online to explain the deal on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/114503203859060399\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force\/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years,&rdquo; Trump wrote on May 13.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive. Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,&rdquo; Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country,&rdquo; Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Claims that transforming the jet Qatar gifted to the U.S. into Air Force One would exceed $1 billion were challenged on Thursday by an Air Force official, who stated that the actual cost is significantly lower. During a House Armed Services Committee meeting, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink provided an estimate of under $400 million, which is less than half of what some Democrats suggested. He explained that many costs associated with the transformation are already accounted for in existing budgets. Meink emphasized the need for thorough checks to eliminate any intelligence vulnerabilities in the aircraft and expressed commitment to preparing it for use before President Trump leaves office. Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney criticized this estimate, arguing that given a previous retrofit cost of $3.9 billion for another Air Force One plane, upgrading this new aircraft would likely be more expensive due to necessary security enhancements and technology installations. The U.S. officially accepted the Boeing 747-8 from Qatar last month as a temporary solution until new planes are delivered, with Trump defending the gift as a significant savings for taxpayers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2444127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Quatari-jet.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[34098,32412,52077,7145,56705],"class_list":["post-2444126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-air-force-one","tag-government-spending","tag-military-aviation","tag-price","tag-retrofit"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Quatari-jet.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444126"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2444130,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444126\/revisions\/2444130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2444127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}