#HTE

Trump Cancels Orders for New Air Force One, Calls Plane “Ridiculous”

Early this morning, President-Elect Trump apparently nixed an order for the next generation Presidential aircraft—via Twitter. Boeing was apparently working on the next version of Air Force One, but Trump isn’t having it:

The next-gen version was planned to be a new 747-8, with a range 1,000 miles longer than the current AF1. As for why the costs are so high, well, we are talking about an armor-plated, nuclear-blast-resistant jumbo jet with mid-air refueling modifications, anti-electromagnetic-pulse systems, anti-missile defenses and a shit-ton of communications gear.

As CNN reports:

Asked by reporters Tuesday morning about the tweet, he responded, “Well the plane is totally out of control. It’s going to be over $4 billion for [the] Air Force One program,” he said. “And I think it’s ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money.”

The 747-8 version Boeing was planning was not scheduled to be rolled out until 2024, which means Trump would only get to fly on it in the final year of his second term, if he were re-elected.

As for what the President-Elect currently flies around in, here’s a tour of his private 757, which some refer to as “Trump Force One:”

Is it me, or is that surprisingly understated? I thought it would be way gaudier!

http://www.core77.com/posts/58719/Trump-Cancels-Orders-for-New-Air-Force-One-Calls-Plane-Ridiculous