A Frustrated Trump Wants His New Air Force One Planes Pronto
Source: NYT
President Trump, furious about delays in delivering two new Air Force One jets, has empowered Elon Musk to explore drastic options to prod Boeing to move faster, including relaxing security clearance standards for some who work on the presidential planes.
His administration has even discussed whether a luxury jet could be acquired and refitted during the wait, according to five people with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe closely held deliberations.
-snip-
Boeings executives have indicated to the government that they might not be able to deliver the new Air Force Ones until the end of Mr. Trumps second term. But Mr. Musk, who is known for setting aggressive in some cases unachievable deadlines at his companies, has insisted that at least one of the planes can be delivered within a years time.
Officials involved in the project a complicated feat of engineering that requires the plane to be capable of evading certain missile attacks or surviving the fallout from a nuclear blast regard Mr. Musks timeline as unrealistic.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/us/politics/trump-musk-air-force-one-boeing.html
According to the article, Trump has told people that if Musk "can fly a rocket" (NYT's wording, not a direct quote) then he "can probably figure out an airplane" (again, the NYT's wording, not a direct quote, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of their sources told them these were Trump's words).
Such genius. Both Musk and Trump.
If Musk does succeed in getting the plane's production rushed, it would be only fitting if he and Trump were alone on Trump's first flight. Musk as pilot. He "can probably figure out" how to become a pilot in a short time, if he doesn't already have a pilot's license. Trump could wear a pilot's uniform and pretend he's a pilot. It would be so much more awesome than Trump in a truck...and what a chapter in their bromance! I'd recommend a long first flight east, maybe to South Africa. Musk could keep Trump entertained with stories of his apartheid-loving pilot grandfather, and Trump could talk about his grandfather the brothel owner. It would be a flight for the ages, and they could probably sell film rights...
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montanacowboy
(6,408 posts)relax the security requirements, by all means proceed quickly!!!!
bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Bluetus
(625 posts)Just to make sure, Elon should fire anybody involved in the project, particularly anybody holding up any safety testing results.
BonnieJW
(2,730 posts)A little super glue, some fishing line, and shipping tape and it's good to go.
Danascot
(4,962 posts)Then it's good to go. Those other details will take care of themselves.
Wuddles440
(1,627 posts)and propose relaxing all security for Convict 45 and Muskrat!
tanyev
(45,413 posts)EarthFirst
(3,421 posts)Im sure he can figure it out
-works for me!
Safe travels!
sakabatou
(43,997 posts)DENVERPOPS
(10,838 posts)existing 747 AirForce planes..........
The real issue here, is that he spec'd the exterior paint job, and Biden cancelled it.......
Trump wanted three horizontal Red, White and Blue stripes...
(The same as the Russian Flag, just in a different order, so it wouldn't upset people for him being so obvious about who ordered him to do that.)
JoseBalow
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Marie Marie
(10,075 posts)cut every cost, regulatory, safety and quality corner you can. Slap that bitch together with Elmer's and scotch tape. Let geriatric hamsters run the engines. Our King wants what he wants when he wants it and I say give it to him. Hee hee hee....
truthisfreedom
(23,360 posts)This year, only good can come of it.
defacto7
(13,806 posts)Get that man his planes!
Buddyzbuddy
(356 posts)DOGE would want you to cut costs. Throw in a little gremlin while you're at it.
orangecrush
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LudwigPastorius
(11,659 posts)...and if you forget to tighten a few bolts...well, that's a shame.
Turbineguy
(38,760 posts)Fewer bolts holding the wings on, that sort of thing.
usonian
(15,934 posts)Crew hastily learns to fly, design, build and test airplanes in one day.
IT'S FULLY SELF-FLYING
NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG
And no chance of gremlins on Mutring airplanes (MuskTrumpBoeing abbreviation)
Enjoy
JohnnyRingo
(19,666 posts)Boeing?!
I don't see how this could go south. haha
Hope22
(3,545 posts)IzzaNuDay
(865 posts)He will continue to bitch no matter how it turns out!
DFW
(57,217 posts)Make sure that it's just Trump, Musk, some of his cabinet, and a Russian crew on the first few test flights, and make them long ones to test endurance--polar route flights to Moscow and back, for example. Not that I wish anyone ill, of course, oh, no, nothing like that. But it's kind of an exclusive occasion, so only the inner circle should be along. Hegseth, Bondi, Rubio, Bobby Jr., Noem, Gabbard, and of course, his trusty VP and the House Speaker.
Trump appears to be in a really big hurry to get this done, so to hell with expensive, time consuming safety backups. Leave those for the next plane's "libbrul" CiC.
liberalgunwilltravel
(675 posts)Just dont bolt the wings on too tightly.
bdamomma
(67,367 posts)baby wants his toys. He's a convicted isn't he not supposed to fly outside the country?
bdamomma
(67,367 posts)stay in the garbage truck it was more suitable to him.
Ocelot II
(123,008 posts)There's no need for security clearances for anybody who works on them. And don't waste time on inspections; I'm sure they'll be just fine, and Trump and Musk should have the honor of taking delivery personally.
malaise
(280,945 posts)Safety be damned
MiHale
(11,264 posts)No need to have employees with questionable security issues rejected if theyre willing to hurry up and get stuff done.
Paint it so it stands out in the sky, leaving no doubt whos in that plane. Not one of those workers would leave a bolt loose or a wire crossed.
Will the plane have a left wing?
SergeStorms
(19,413 posts)since The Big Orange Fascist Pig has declared anything left of Hitler illegal.
MiHale
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SergeStorms
(19,413 posts)if Boeing forgot some crucial parts in their haste to give His Assholiness his planes. Yep........a real shame.
Omnipresent
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Rhiannon12866
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Historic NY
(38,465 posts)747s are no longer produced. the last 747-8F freight variant was delivered in 2023
They need to be fitted with hardware and systems, for defense and avoidance of threats. An aerial refueling system. Thousands a miles of wiring. The Air force wasn't keen on the conversion, rather than bespoke, but dumbo wanted the biggest target he could get.
The current two took four years to outfit and complete. They were purpose built, these aren't.
milestogo
(19,450 posts)Historic NY
(38,465 posts)SKKY
(12,387 posts)doc03
(37,441 posts)put them in the glove box like GM.
Blue Owl
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