Sen. Mullin: Using Qatari Jet as Temp Replacement for Air Force One Started Under Biden
“The Biden administration is the one that started these conversations.”
The Left’s hysteria over the Trump administration’s willingness to accept a Boeing 747-8 jet as a donation from the royal family of Qatar has reached a crescendo. President Donald Trump plans to use the luxury aircraft as a temporary replacement for Air Force One, which is 40-years-old, as he awaits the long-delayed delivery of two new Boeing jets.
The New York Times reported that in 2018, the Air Force contracted with Boeing to build two new aircraft. However, last year, Boeing announced the planes wouldn’t be ready until 2029. In response, Trump enlisted Elon Musk to help accelerate the timeline, after which a new target date of 2027 was set. Still, given Boeing’s history of delays, that promise seems doubtful.
Concerns about the aging fleet aren’t new. As early as 2014, a commenter on Aviation’s forum warned that the two VC-25 jets that constitute the Air Force One fleet (modified military versions of the 747-200) were already obsolete:
These two 747-200s are among the last remaining 747-200s in service. I suspect that they are the best-maintained 747-200s in the world and they have considerable sunk costs in their custom rigging. But even when the aircraft were put in service in 1990, this model had already been replaced by the 747-300 (1982) and 747-400 (1989).
At any rate, perhaps wary of Boeing’s assurances, Trump has been exploring alternative options. And Qatar’s offer of a 747-8 appeals to him.
[To be fair, news of Trump’s potential acceptance has also raised ethics concerns among some of his supporters.]
During a Wednesday evening interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) made a stunning assertion. He said the idea of using the Qatari jet as a temporary replacement for Air Force One was first floated during the Biden administration.
Mullin, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, informed Tapper:
What the media isn’t telling you and what no one’s talking to you about is this same 747 has been in negotiations for a year. The Biden administration is the one that started these conversations.
It didn’t start in the Trump administration. Why? Because we need a backup for Air Force One. Because right now, the President of the United States is flying around on a 40-year-old plane and there is no backup for it.
The backup we had – the airframe started having structural issues.
No one’s discussing that part. They’re discussing that the deal ended with President Trump.
Maybe I’ll give them a pass. Maybe you didn’t know. I’ll give you the pass.
So let me get this straight the plane that was a gift from Qatar was actually a conversation that was started a year ago by the Biden administration with the Qataris? You literally can’t make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/LDjs2yR5NK
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) May 15, 2025
To say the least, if Mullin’s revelation is correct, it fundamentally reshapes the narrative surrounding this issue.
Verifying Mullin’s claim is difficult, if not impossible, given that internal discussions within the Biden administration are not a matter of public record. Even if such information were to leak, I imagine few members of the legacy media would report it. Besides, with all the chaos surrounding Biden’s ability to stay in the race, such a story would hardly have been considered newsworthy at the time.
RedState’s Rusty Weiss suggested that maybe someone ought to ask former President Joe Biden. He quickly dismissed the thought realizing “it’s quite unlikely he’d have any idea about it in the first place. Perhaps they should ask whoever was running the country at the time.”
In the end, the controversy over the Trump administration’s acceptance of the Qatari jet may say less about national security or protocol and more about the reflexive outrage machine that defines modern political discourse. If Mullin is right — and the Biden administration truly initiated the deal — then the media firestorm currently directed at Trump is not just misplaced, but intentionally selective. Until more facts emerge, the louder critics shout, the more it seems they’re less interested in transparency than in scoring political points.
The full segment can be viewed below.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.
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Comments
You cant hate the press and their democrat overloads (or is it the other way around) enough. Such a wretched collection of scum and villainy.
overlords…. not overloads
Same thing! 😏
I’ve been suffering from DeMS-13 overload since 2020…
Overloads.. are we talking about Joey’s diapers?
You seen Stacy “The Buffet Slayer” Abrams? Overload is correct. If I hauled her down the road without a permit I’d be arrested
It’d be illegal to haul that much ass on any road. You need a … 747-8 or so for that!
gop
start and get your stink holes to work on ending the welfare state and going to a flat tax and leave the good people alone
50yrs is not undone in 100 days. Patience
Always fun when we “discover” that the big-noise Democrat complaints against Republicans are actually things they were doing themselves.
Letitia, call your office!
true except lefty keeps winning
Only when you believe the scoreboard the MSM is in charge of.
the debt favors the lefty
the locals in city after city pretend to end dei ( when they even bother to pretend)
the blue states continue to get others tax money etc etc
blm is a communist org that was given free reign and money and the welfare state continues unabated
not to mention downgrading our credit standings
so when you choose to ignore those and many other facts as posted by LI ( thats what the articles are about…how the left is destroying america)
then its not about my “believing” lies..
its about my willingness to deal with the truths
mainly because Repubs, aka Bondi, lack the balls to prosecute Dem miscreants thinking red jacketed congress woman and Comey
that would be a great start to see these actual criminals that the dnc supports being taken to court
at least that judge dugan is headed the way to the prisons
I will suspend judgement until Milhouse arrives and waxes erroneously about this subject, and I will then take the opposite view.
Kindly go copulate with yourself.
No musings from your giant intellect letting us plebes know how ignorant we are?
This is a odd argument. Biden started it, so it is good that Trump continues the Biden policy. Now try this same argument on the rest of the things that Biden started. Qatar has given over 1.6 billion dollars to Hamas to help Hamas destroy Israel. And now Trump thinks this is a good thing to do since Biden started it. .
I actually up voted JR. Stopped clock can be correct twice a day.
Not by me. I thought it was a bad idea for Trump to pick this ball up even BEFORE the Democrats let it slip that they were the ones who started it rolling. I’m just commenting on the usual Democrat hypocrisy.
It is odd but I’m not worried about it. Qatar has expelled all the terrorists and indicated they are onboard with the rest of the middle east opposing Iran. The last administration left them little choice but to try and thread the needle. An adult is back in charge so they are ready to roll.
Part of the problem with stories like this is when places like LI give those stories legitimacy by taking about them as if…wait for it.. the story is legitimate.
Then shit like this comes out.
Everyone laughs.
Then we move on to the next thing Democrats decide is important and places like LI give them credibility by talking about them as if it’s a legitimate thing.
Qatar had this plane up for sale for a couple of years. Probably little interest in a 4-engine airliner. Most everyone are buying 2-engine jets. More fuel efficient and lower maintenance. Qatar is probably happy to get rid of it.
The aviation world is moving away from planes like the 747 and A380 to smaller, more economic 2 engine aircraft.
In fact I can’t even remember the last time I flew in a 747 and the only time I’ve flown in a A380 is Singapore to the UK as pretty much only SIA and Emerates are the only airlines left operating them that I fly on.
All Qatar has to do is give the plane back to Boeing as a “trade in”, and then Boeing can re-sell it to the US gov for a nominal sum.
Journaliars can’t even pronounce Qatar correctly, why should we believe anything they say about anything.
It’s Kuh-TAR you ignorant morons. Not Cutter!
I believe it’s pronounced “gutter,” but nobody who speaks English wants to pronounce it that way.
Shut your mouth. The One informed us it was Cutter and we will not countenance your blasphemy
Qatar was safe haven for KSM, and provides banking services to hamas. They aren’t “moderate’ muslims.
Gift is trojan horse. Use if for air force target practice.
I was thinking they should pull out all the seats and upholstery, fill it with cages and turn it into the TDA Express between Texas and El Salvador on a daily run.
The msm is claiming the Qatar 747-8 is worth $400,000,000! No one in their right mind would pay for a 747 in today’s market. No airline would want it because it is a totally customized plane that would have to be stripped of everything inside just to make it usable. It is a private jet setup that no one in the world wants. The Qataris realized that they would never sell it, so why not make a gesture of giving it to the USA/Trump? The bottom line is that it is an unsellable plane, and they are getting good PR for their donation.
Was Biden going to buy it ?
Accepting it as a gift is so over -the-top inappropriate. But THE BLOB has done so many over-the-top sleazy things it sadly doesn’t cause much more than a shoulder shrug. The quicker this disgusting human being is 86’ed, the better off the country will be. Much is being made of the Dem’s hiding Biden’s decline but THE BLOB says brain-addled moronic stuff every day. I mean, did you see his latest rant against WALMART? LAFFRIOT. On his WORST day ,Biden never said anything that ironic. But since he’s surrounded himself with assholes, nobody will dare him how stupid he sounds.PATHETIC
If stupidity were gravity, your scribblings would be pinched out of the universe.