Eric Trump: Old Air Force One will be displayed at father’s library

Administration Eric Trump: Old Air Force One will be displayed at father’s library Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 08/06/26 9:50 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 08/06/26 9:50 AM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

President Trump’s son Eric Trump on Tuesday said an old Air Force One will go on display at his father’s presidential library in Miami, contradicting the president’s original plan for his new Qatari-gifted executive aircraft.

Eric Trump told NBC News in a text message that “That’s not the plan at the moment for Miami” to display the Boeing 747-8 as the new Air Force One. He similarly told the Palm Beach Post last month that an older, retired Air Force One jet will go on display “in the base of that.”

“Obviously, they’re retiring two Air Force ones now, the 2900 and the 29100z. The 2900 will be at the base of that building,” he told the outlet. “There’s tremendous history between everything [my father] did first term and now second term, and all the state visits.”

Eric Trump then said in the interview that the library complex skyscraper is being built “around a 747.”

“I’m sure wings will have to come off in order to just sneak it in there, but we’ll make it happen … that’ll be fun,” he told the Post.

Eric Trump referred to the Boeing 707 Air Force One housed in the massive pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., as an example of housing a retired Air Force One jet at a library complex in speaking with both outlets.

When asked about Eric Trump’s remarks, a White House official told The Hill that no final decision has been made.

The president said last year that this new plane would go “directly to the library after I leave office,” with his library foundation assuming control of the plane at the end of his term in 2029. The plane was set to serve as a bridge aircraft between the aging Boeing 747-200s presidents have flown on for more than two decades and two new planes Boeing is scheduled to complete in 2028.

The plane features a new color scheme with dark blue, a gold stripe and red trim, which was also applied to an older Air Force One 757.

He first flew on the $400 million plane to North Dakota last month, less than two weeks after calling it “the world’s most luxurious plane.” Trump also said the new jet was “maxed out” with upgrades that should “take about a month.”

The decision for the president to fly on an older Air Force One during a trip to Turkey last month, amid threats from Iran in response to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with the Islamic regime, resurrected concerns and questions about the new plane’s security upgrades.

Some officials and lawmakers question whether the Qatari-gifted jet was upgraded sufficiently to include defensive measures and other capabilities necessary to protect the commander in chief while traveling.

Most presidential libraries include various vehicles besides Air Force One planes, if applicable.

Automobiles used by former presidents Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon B. Johnson are on display at their respective presidential libraries, while the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., has been the home of the Marine One helicopter famously used following his resignation in 1974.