Donald Trump unveils new Air Force One gifted by Qatar after $900m modification controversy

President Donald Trump has officially unveiled the brand-new Air Force One presidential aircraft at Joint Base Andrews, showing off a luxury Boeing 747-8 accepted as a gift from the Qatari government.

Standing inside a massive, custom-built hangar in Maryland on Friday, Trump descended the stairs of the hulking jumbo jet to reveal his highly anticipated new red, white, and blue paint scheme.

"There will never be one like this. This is very unique. This is considered the world's most luxurious plane," Trump said, addressing the crowd from a podium underneath the presidential seal.

"When it was built, it was built at a level that will probably never be seen again. This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody's ever seen before.”

Unlike standard presidential aircraft where operational utility completely overwrites style, the Air Force confirmed that they deliberately prioritized rapid delivery over interior remodeling.

To get the plane in the air ahead of schedule, the military left the lavish Qatari 'Head of State' layout minimally changed.

This means, the presidential aircraft boasts a range of elite amenities including master and guest bedrooms fitted with luxury sycamore and wacapou wood fixtures. Plush leather seating arrangements, custom Tai Ping carpets, and original artwork installations.

Additionally, the press cabin, a common feature in previous iterations of Air Force One, has also been removed entirely, with members of the media now separated from officials by a soundproof curtain.

The President had high words of praise for the newly modified aircraft (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

While the aircraft itself—originally a custom Boeing Business Jet used by Qatar's royal family—was handed over to the U.S. federal government as a gift, the acquisition has sparked a political firestorm in Washington over intense security and ethical concerns.

Despite the plane technically being ‘free,’ making it safe enough for a Commander-in-Chief cost a staggering fortune.

According to government records, modifying the plane to meet strict "VC-25B Bridge" military standards required stripping the jet down to its hull to inspect it for any foreign surveillance technology or tracking devices.

In addition, the jet also needed to be kitted out with high-level anti-missile defense systems, radiation shielding to withstand electromagnetic pulses (EMP) from a nuclear blast, and state-of-the-art encrypted global communications arrays.

In total the complete array of modifications are thought to have totalled more than $900million to achieve the necessary standard to transport the US leader.

Donald Trump speaks in front of the new Air Force One, gifted to him by Qatar, in a hangar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland (Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images))

Yet the cost of the modifications alone isn’t the issue, it’s the unprecedented nature of the deal.

While the White House insists the foreign gift saves American taxpayers a fortune, ethics watchdogs and congressional critics have heavily criticized the move.

Serious legal questions are already being raised over whether accepting a multi-million dollar luxury asset from a foreign power directly violates the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, reports The Washington Post.

Trump previously brushed off the backlash back in January, stating it would be "stupid" to reject the luxury upgrade, reports The Guardian.

The U.S. Air Force confirmed the aircraft will immediately begin a series of strict ‘commissioning flights’ to test its classified defense systems, with Trump revealing the new jet will lead a massive flyover of Washington D.C. on July 4th to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.