What will it cost to renovate the ‘free' Air Force One? Don't ask
But getting the White House to discuss another of Washington's expensive renovation projects, the cost of refurbishing a 'free' Air Force One from Qatar, is quite another matter.
Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards, where 'black budgets' are often used as an excuse to avoid revealing the cost of outdated spy satellites and lavish end-of-year parties, the techniques being used to hide the cost of Trump's pet project are inventive.
Which may explain why no one wants to discuss a mysterious, $US934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon's most over-budget, out-of-control projects – the modernisation of America's ageing, ground-based nuclear missiles.
In recent weeks, congressional budget sleuths have come to think that amount, slipped into an obscure Pentagon document sent to Capitol Hill as a 'transfer' to an unnamed classified project, almost certainly includes the renovation of the new, gold-adorned Air Force One that Trump desperately wants in the air before his term is over. (It is not clear if the entire transfer will be devoted to stripping the new Air Force One back to its airframe, but Air Force officials privately acknowledge dipping into nuclear modernisation funds for the complex project.)
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Qatar's defence minister and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth signed the final memorandum of understanding a few weeks ago, paving the way for the renovation to begin soon at a Texas facility known for secret technology projects. The document was reported earlier by The Washington Post.
Trump's plane probably won't fly for long: it will take a year or two to get the work done, and then the Qatari gift – improved with the latest communications and in-flight protective technology – will be transferred to the yet-to-be-created Trump presidential library after he leaves office in 2029, the president has said.
Concerns over the many apparent conflicts of interest involved in the transaction, given Trump's government dealings and business ties with the Qataris, have swirled since reports of the gift emerged this spring. But Trump said he was unconcerned, casting the decision as a no-brainer for taxpayers.
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