Trump travels on new Qatar-gifted Air Force One to North Dakota
Trump flew to North Dakota on the Qatar-gifted Boeing 747-8 for his first trip aboard the new Air Force One, a move still shadowed by ethics scrutiny.
President Donald Trump traveled Wednesday to North Dakota on his first flight aboard the new Air Force One, a retrofitted Boeing 747-8 gifted to the United States by the Qatari government last year. The trip took him to Medora for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and museum, a ceremony folded into the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebrations.
The aircraft, described as a temporary bridge presidential plane, had only recently entered service with the Presidential Airlift Group. The U.S. Air Force said the VC-25B Bridge aircraft arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in June and began its initial commissioning flights after that arrival.
The jet’s provenance has made it one of the most scrutinized presidential aircraft in recent memory. The United States accepted it as an unconditional donation from Qatar in 2025, and reports have placed its value at about $400 million. That gift drew ethics concerns and criticism from lawmakers and observers, who questioned both the optics and the precedent of a foreign government supplying a presidential plane.
Trump has defended the aircraft and the arrangement surrounding it. He has said the older presidential plane was more than 30 years old and described the new jet as something the country should be proud of. The North Dakota trip gave him a highly visible debut aboard the aircraft at a moment when the administration has been leaning hard on patriotic symbolism ahead of July Fourth.
In Medora, the flight also tied Trump to Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy as the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library prepared for its public opening on July 4, 2026. The library’s grand opening was set for America’s 250th birthday, and the dedication placed the president in a setting meant to evoke rugged nationalism and presidential history at once.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong was set to welcome Trump to the state for the dedication, giving the visit a local political dimension as well as a national one. The combination of a foreign-gifted presidential aircraft, a landmark celebration of the country’s semiquincentennial, and a library devoted to one of the most iconic presidents turned the trip into a test of presidential image, diplomatic comfort, and institutional norms.
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