REVEALED: Trump took model of redesigned Air Force One from White House and has it on a coffee table at Mar-a-Lago
- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden ‘has not spent a moment’ thinking about Air Force One’s color scheme
- Trump ordered a renegotiation of contract for the next generation plane after he took office
- Trump took a personal interest in the interior design of the plane and even wanted a ‘more modern look’ in its presidential bedroom
- He put a model of the plane on a table in the Oval Office during his tenure
- It was seen as he met with world leaders
- The model has since been photographed at Mar-a-Lago where Trump now lives
- It is now displayed on a coffee table in a lobby, Politico reports
President Donald Trump was so enthusiastic about the planned Air Force One redesign with its new paint job that he placed a scale model inside the Oval Office – and he took it with him to his Mar-a-Lago club when he left the White House.
Trump made much fanfare of his actions to renegotiate the redesign of the next generation aircraft, threatening to cancel a contract with Boeing after he took office and negotiating changes.
He said his efforts saved taxpayer money. He also took a stylistic interest, involving himself in the paint job and scrapping design elements that date to the Kennedy administration.
He put a model of the redesigned plane inside the Oval Office, where it appeared in countless photographs of Trump with world leaders and became a conversation piece. Now, the model can be seen at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump has been living since January 20. An image of the display of the model was obtained by Politico.
The model of Donald Trump’s proposed revision of the color scheme of Air Force One that was once in the Oval Office is now on display on a coffee table in the lobby of Mar-A-Lago as seen in this image from Politico
A model of Air Force One with its new paint job is now on display at Mar-a-Lago. Here it can be seen when Trump met the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in July
The White House brushed off questions at the start of Joe Biden’s tenure about whether he would ditch the new paint job featured on Trump’s model.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden ‘has not spent a moment’ thinking about the color scheme for the aircraft, which is considered a symbol of U.S. power and prestige around the world.
She had first told DailyMail.com when asked about it Jan. 20th: ‘I will venture to get an answer on that.’
A spokeswoman for Trump’s post-presidency office didn’t immediately respond to a request for information about whether Trump had been required to reimburse the government for the model, as presidents routinely do for diplomatic gifts they wish to maintain in their possession.
Trump gushed about the redesign in an interview for a National Geographic documentary about the plane, as revealed by DailyMail.com.
JUST PASSING THROUGH: A model of the new Air Force One is seen in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2019
Trump’s own plane, which he used throughout the 2016 plane, is undergoing repairs in New York
President Donald Trump and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sit behind a scale model of Air Force One as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 20, 2019
‘I view this as something to do with legacy,’ Trump said in the interview, which was conducted in October 2019. ‘Every time I look at it I’ll say, “I had a lot to do with that.” Just, really, a representation of our great country.’
‘We’re changing the coloring system, I think it’s a stronger system, it’s actually more beautiful,’ Trump told National Geographic. ‘The coloring system was that way for a long time, it’s baby blue. Now we have a, I think it’s a stronger system, and it’s red, white and blue, but it’s the color blue in the American flag, which is a darker color.’
Donald Trump golfs at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., the day after he was acquitted in a second impeachment trial
Since that time, Democrats have taken a harsh view of Trump’s legacy, impeaching him twice. The Senate on Saturday voted 53 to 47, acquitting him on ‘incitement of insurrection’ after failing to reach the required two-thirds vote.
While Trump can still take a peak at the new Air Force One and its new paint job should it materialize, his own $100 million Boeing 757-200, has mechanical issues.
The day he left office, the plane was in storage at Stewart Aiport north of New York City.
Photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com showed the plane, which was built in 1991, in need of significant engine repair.