President Trump in an interview broadcast early Thursday shared the first renderings of a redesigned Air Force One, featuring a red, white and blue paint job.
The president, who has expressed a desire to replace the traditional baby blue and white exterior with a fresh design, revealed some mock ups to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos during an interview on Wednesday.{mosads}
“There’s your new Air Force One,” he said, holding up the drawings. “And I’m doing that for other presidents, not for me.”
Trump held a document that featured four slightly different variations of the presidential plane with a white top half, blue bottom third and red streak down the middle. The new planes are set to be delivered by the end of 2024, which would be the end of a possible second term for Trump.
The mock ups were revealed one day after House panel voted to advance a potential roadblock to Trump’s desired changes.
The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment that would require the Trump administration to get congressional approval for any “work relating to aircraft paint scheme, interiors and livery” before it takes place.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) said his provision refers to the Air Force One replacement contract, a $3.9 billion, fixed-price deal the Air Force signed with Boeing in July 2018 to design, modify, test, certify and deliver two 747 planes by the end of 2024. He noted that small changes can create additional costs.
“Additional paint can add weight to the plane, additional fixtures inside the plane can also add cost and delays to the delivery of the plane,” Courtney said in presenting his amendment.
– This story was updated at 6:11 p.m. to correct the type of new contracted aircraft