NatGeo special on Air Force One teases onboard Trump interview

Former President Trump says the first time he stepped onboard Air Force One was a “big moment” in his life, opening up about his affinity for the presidential aircraft in a new TV special.

“The first time I came onto Air Force One was a big moment, frankly, in my life because over the years it has meant so much,” Trump says in an interview conducted on the plane for the forthcoming National Geographic documentary “The New Air Force One: Flying Fortress.”

The hourlong special, airing 10 p.m. on Monday, Presidents Day, gives viewers “unprecedented access” into the creation of the revamped Air Force One.

Last February, the Air Force requested $800.9 million to swap out the current planes for modified Boeing 747-8s.

The National Geographic documentary “follows the classified mission to create the new presidential aircraft and provides an inside look at the cutting-edge engineering and technology that transforms the plane into a top-secret, highly secured command center,” the network said in touting the project. 

The special examines the minute details that the crew aboard Air Force One must pay attention to — a chief flight attendant describes how he immediately shuts the door to the president’s personal office after the commander in chief walks in to “keep [it] sterile” and maintain privacy. A “quality check” would also be done before Trump even stepped into the high-flying office, with a pair of his glasses and signing pens put inside his desk.

“It’s so important. It’s a symbol,” Trump tells the cameras aboard the plane in a clip provided to The Hill. “It’s a symbol of power, of strength, of the presidency. It’s a magnificent plane. It’s something that’s very, very special.” 

The interview with the ex-president was filmed in October, when he was still in office. 

An updated color scheme for the planes, proposed by Trump, made headlines when it was revealed by the Pentagon last year: Instead of baby blue, the new aircraft would feature a white top half, blue bottom third and red stripe down the middle.  

When asked last month about the makeover potentially moving forward, new White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Biden “has not spent a moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One.”

—Updated at 6:11 p.m.