President Trump confirmed in an interview that aired Tuesday that Air Force One is set for a redesign with a red, white and blue paint job.
Trump spoke with Jeff Glor of CBS News last weekend and described his plans for the new model of the presidential aircraft.
“I said, ‘I wonder if we should use the same baby blue colors.’ And we’re not,” Trump told Glor from his golf course in Scotland.
{mosads}“Air Force One is going to be incredible,” he continued. “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’s comments confirm an Axios report published last week that indicated the president wanted to do away with the signature light blue and white paint job on Air Force One — which he called a “Jackie Kennedy color” — in favor of something “more American.”
Boeing is replacing the existing presidential planes with two new ones, but those planes aren’t expected to be ready for several more years.
Trump, who prior to taking office slammed the cost of building the new planes, acknowledged to CBS that he is unlikely to benefit from the redesigned aircraft.
“By the time it gets built, I hate to say this, it’s going to be a long time,” Trump said. “It’s a very complex project. But by the time it gets built, you’re going to have many presidents hopefully use it and enjoy it.”
Air Force One saw a lot of international travel last week as the president attended a NATO summit in Belgium before proceeding to the United Kingdom.
Trump spent the weekend in Scotland before departing for Finland, where he held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His performance there has been overwhelmingly panned, with Republicans, Democrats and even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters criticizing the president for failing to hold Putin accountable for Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.