The governments of the U.S. and Qatar are close to finalizing an agreement for the transfer of a Boeing 747-8 that will serve as the next Air Force One, The Washington Post reported, months after the U.S. Defense Department said the deal was done.
According to an official communication viewed by the newspaper, the Qatari government will send the aircraft as a “donation” to the Pentagon. Sources with knowledge of the proceedings told the Post that the Defense Department requested a small change in the text of the agreement, which will have to be reviewed by Qatari officials.
A final deal would allow the Pentagon to start work on the 747, which will need to be taken apart, swept for defects and listening devices, and reassembled with a redone interior and top-secret communications equipment and command and control systems. Military aviation experts have said the work could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to complete.
The Defense Department announced in May that it had formally accepted the jet as a gift from Qatar. But according to the Post, the transfer has actually been held up by “legal wrangling” for the past two months and only now is nearing completion. It is not clear why the Pentagon released its earlier statement.
Qatar’s offer of a free jet to the U.S., and President Donald Trump’s decision to accept it, proved massively controversial, with many Democrats and even some Republicans condemning the arrangement as bribery. They also voiced concerns that the Qatari government or some other party might bug the airplane to listen in on the president and his inner circle.
Trump has said he would have been foolish not to accept Qatar’s gift, since Boeing’s work on the two aircraft meant to replace the current Air Force One is years behind schedule.
According to the Post’s report, the pending U.S.-Qatar agreement contains text that reads, “Nothing in this MoU is, or shall be interpreted or construed as, an offer, promise, or acceptance of any form of bribery, undue influence, or corrupt practice.”
