Chuck Schumer decided Wednesday was a great day to play airplane police, attempting to block taxpayer dollars from going toward upgrades on Trump's Qatari gifted Boeing 747-8. Spoiler alert: it didn't work. Senate Republicans swatted the effort down faster than you can say "luxury aircraft," as Conservative Brief reported on the whole saga.
So here's the backstory. Qatar gave Trump a Boeing 747-8 luxury jet, which the White House rolled out last month as the newest member of the Air Force One fleet. The plane reportedly has a base value around $400 million, but retrofitting it with all the presidential bells and whistles could run up to $1 billion, according to Fox News. That's a lot of taxpayer cash for what is essentially turning a really nice plane into a really, really nice plane that can also dodge missiles.
Schumer took to the Senate floor with the kind of dramatic flair usually reserved for community theater. "The luxury jet may have come wrapped in a bow for Donald Trump, but it came with a massive price tag for the American people," he proclaimed. He went on to note that regular folks are struggling with gas prices, grocery bills, and electricity costs. Fair point, Chuck, though it's worth mentioning he wasn't exactly leading the charge against inflation during the Biden years either.
His bill, charmingly titled the Presidential Airlift Security Act, would have banned the Department of War from spending federal money to purchase, modify, restore, or maintain any aircraft previously owned by a foreign government. He pushed for unanimous Senate approval on Wednesday afternoon.
But Senator Deb Fischer from Nebraska spotted a rather significant problem with the legislation. Turns out Schumer's bill would also apply to the Survivable Air Operations Center aircraft, which were purchased from Korean Air. Those planes are kind of important because they ensure presidential safety during a nuclear war. You know, just a minor detail. Fischer pointed out that the bill would essentially hamper a crucial program designed for that exact nightmare scenario.
Meanwhile, the new Air Force One already had a bit of an embarrassing moment. Trump reportedly flew back from Turkey on a different aircraft because the fancy new plane hadn't received key security upgrades yet, including countermeasures against heat seeking missiles. That decision came after Secret Service recommendations, which seems pretty reasonable when missiles are part of the conversation.
Trump told reporters Sunday that the plane "has a lot of capability" but would be sent for full upgrades in about a month. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the aircraft is "perfectly safe" but will be grounded this fall for roughly a month while getting those additional enhancements. During that time, Trump goes back to the old Air Force One like some kind of aviation peasant.
So to recap: Schumer tried to ground funding for Trump's jet, accidentally almost compromised nuclear war preparedness, and got blocked by Republicans. Just another Wednesday in Washington.
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