White House: Trump's $4 billion figure on Air Force One is questionable

[TubbersUK]

Source: Reuters

The White House said on Tuesday it does not know where President-elect Donald Trump got his figure of more than $4 billion to replace the Air Force One plane that transports presidents, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Trump urged the federal government on Tuesday to cancel an order with Boeing Co to develop a new Air Force One, saying costs were more than $4 billion and "out of control."

"Some of the statistics that have been cited, shall we say, don't appear to reflect the nature of the financial arrangement between Boeing and the Department of Defense," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-airplane-white-house-idUSKBN13V2DB?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=584704d604d3016c00ed4fd5&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[TuslaUltra]

1. is this some ploy to use the Trump plane?

methinks he's struggling with the potential to miss that ugly thing.

[BainsBane]

11. Definitely

So he can charge the govt for it and turn a profit. This whole presidency will be one big scam.

[yeoman6987]

22. I still don't see justification for new planes when the current planes still have 10 life years left

[Kingofalldems]

24. Why do you jump in to defend Trump so much?

[tammywammy]

25. The new planes wouldn't even been in operation until 2024

You know it'll take a while to build it, make all required modifications and test it before it's delivered. It's not like they can place and order and have it roll out in 6 months.

[yeoman6987]

30. I hate that I can be so dumb at times. You are so right.

[tammywammy]

33. I have a post in another thread about government contracting

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1633149

This aircraft isn't even in production. All this does is show how ignorant of defense contracting Trump is. I'm sure he doesn't even know was FAR stands for.

[yeoman6987]

34. True. He's going to be so distructive

I look forward to reading the article you provided. Thank you!

[jberryhill]

27. The delivery date is eight years from now

Or are you suggesting that we wait ten years, and then someone snaps their fingers and a new airplane appears instantly?

[yeoman6987]

31. No. I stupidly missed that.

[jmowreader]

39. You know what Trump is thinking...

"Why can't the government just buy one off Trade-a-Plane like I did?"

[Kingofalldems]

54. Damn, another post defending Trump.

[alarimer]

16. I don't see how he can be allowed to do that.

AF 1 has all kids of security upgrades most planes do not.

[ck4829]

2. "Don't worry America, I'll make sure it's only 3 billion dollars tops!" Savings... Trump Style!

[Jeroen]

3. Is the cost of AF1 not classified information?

Of course it's no secret that the plane is extremely costly but still.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I'm sure there's some black budget odds and ends in there.

[Jeroen]

8. Who knows how the contract is structured and what is included

Most likely it's much more than both customized 747's. Backup systems, spare parts, maintenance etc.

[Stellar]

4. Donald Trump is just a liar straight from hell!!! nt

[Quackers]

7. Im not sure why the White House is acting like it wasn't going to cost that much.

ABC reported the contract to build two of them was around $3 billion plus cost overruns.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-heads-back-road-tour-44000943

The thing is, the current aircraft are smaller, 30 years old, and cost more to maintain than it would if we just got new ones. Airplanes aren't cheap but the President needs them as part of his/her job.

[fromVT]

9. Of course it's $4 billion...

... if you gold-plate it.

[dawnie51]

10. Twitler...(thanks to whoever used this term first, it's great)

must think he's got an opportunity to use his personal plane and make a fortune off overpricing the government, or some such nonsense. You can bet it's about self-enrichment, and NOT about looking out for taxpayers. And this is what everything will be about, on every subject, for as long as he's around.

[n2doc]

12. Hey if tRump wants to fly an older plane with antiquated security and communications

Go for it dude. Maybe he should use his own plane. Will make flying over the middle east a bit more interesting and exciting.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. Oh, I think I know exactly where Trump got that figure from.

Hint: It does not smell very good there.

[47of74]

43. And it's rather Orange there too.

[barbtries]

14. just say he lied

and pulled the number out of his ass.

i hate the way a lie is not called what it is. hate that shit!

[LuckyLib]

28. Yes! Or constantly use the same exact phrase, "shall we say, don't appear to reflect the nature of"

(fill in the blank). Over and over and over again. Until even the dimwits start to get the nicety for lie.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

35. I like "without evidence"

It's a euphemism for Rep. Walsh's "You lie!"

[mountain grammy]

15. Earnest should just say

Trump's lying as usual.

[James48]

17. Well, of course if you make a few changes.....

You can cut a lot of costs.


Just take out the Muslim Prayer Curtains, you know.

And the secret room underneath where Hillary was planning to operate the child prostitution ring.

That ought to cut a sizable chunk off the costs....

[jmowreader]

41. Oh, come ON now!

These planes are type certificated, so you have to find a supplier that meets FAA standards, and that ain't cheap. They have to use certificated materials and processes, and that ain't cheap. You've got to find a licensed installer to put the curtains in, and that ain't cheap either. And all that's got to be paid for in advance. It would cost more at this point to delete the prayer curtains, child prostitution rooms, onboard marijuana farm, huge loudspeakers that play "America...Fuck Yeah!" when the plane lands and, of course, the toilets with the special coating on them that resists any attempt to gold-plate them, than it would to just leave that shit in the plan.

[Nwgirl503]

18. Misinformation and flat out lies from Trump....?

This is my shocked face.

[truthisfreedom]

19. He's not going to collect taxpayer money to fly in his golden sky rickshaw

Not gonna happen. He's delusional.

[KT2000]

20. he gets his info from fake news

and conspiracy theory sites. Yay! - 4 years of this.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. If Trump does manage to cancel the new planes,

which are going to be needed soon enough, although I understand they won't be flying until 2024, and he simply uses his own aircraft, whoever is elected in 2024 simply will not have a Presidential plane available to use. THAT'S a scary thought.

Not to mention, as has already been pointed out, the President's plane has lots of stuff that ordinary private aircraft don't, much of which no doubt involves security.

[Travis_0004]

42. First off, I have to assume trump will use airforce one

If he doesn't, then Airforce one will be waiting around for the next president.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

46. The current Air Force One is very near the end of

its life. Just sitting around in metaphorical mothballs won't do it any good. A replacement is needed to get into the pipeline pretty much now, if it's to go into service in 2024, which is what's been planned.

Trump's ego is so vast it's very easy to envision him refusing to fly on a plane that doesn't say TRUMP in gigantic letters.

It is, of course, possible, that the Secret Service will tell him he absolutely must fly on Air Force One, and they may also tell him he can't cancel the order for the replacement. But I recognize I don't know very much about these things, least of all what the SS can force a President to do, for his own safety's sake.

[Travis_0004]

47. Airforce one entered service in 1990 and 1991 (yes there are two)

Its probably the best maintained plane on earth, with the lowest mileage as well for its age.

I don't think we should scrap the replacement, but its not going to fall out of the sky in 2024.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

49. I keep on seeing that at least one of the two

Air Force One planes has been in service since the Reagan administration which would mean they came into service by 1988. And that they are getting more and more costly to maintain. I will defer to your statement of when the two planes actually came into service.

By 2021 both planes will be over thirty years old. Yes, they won't fall out of the sky -- or hopefully won't fall out of the sky -- but if nothing at all is done to replace them, because Trump happily flies around in his own little plane, and nothing at all is done to get new Air Force Ones in place for whoever becomes President in 2024, there will be a real crisis at that point.

[Travis_0004]

50. I dont think so

The plane regan used as airforce one is in Regan's presidental library.

When regan died 'air force one' was used to fly his body to washington DC. Maybe that is what you are thinking of. Of course it wasnt airforce one. Likely used the callsign sam-2700

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. Yeah it was definitely Poppy Bush who took delivery.

Someone needs to point out to Trumpy Von Fuckstick that Airforce One needs to be equipped to coordinate a war. A real war not a twitter war.

[GummyBearz]

53. haha good one

I'm imagining trump on his cell phone fighting fighting all important twitter battles on AF1... lol

[turbinetree]

23. The herr dumpster (also known as the serial predator) is either a liar ,

( which he is) or he has given out classified information, for the total costs of three airplanes.

https://www.aircraftcompare.com/manufacture-aircraft/Boeing/1

This fascist, if he had any business sense, beside defrauding and stiffing people would tell the public that B747-8 production line is not producing enough aircraft to make a profit for Boeing, because of the simple fact that buyers of planes at both Boeing and Airbus are building and selling two engine ETOPS qualified aircraft.

The B747-8 is more fuel efficient for the four engines than the B747-400. There is a reason why they the Air Force wants the Boeing aircraft, not only is it American Made, but is easier to get parts from the manufacture of the product and its cheaper. McCain and this twit would tell you otherwise, but F*** them. And its more secure, it is after all the flying WHITE HOUSE>

Because then you become dependent on the foreign source for parts, and if they get pissed off they can say you want this part----and laugh at you

You do not want your "enemies "to know what the aircraft has for security and re-fueling capabilities, and other classified material, you want this information in house, why do you think, they have only American made Military aircraft made in the US.

And what's really insane as this serial predator fascist is not even the president, he may run around and think he is, but he has not been sworn in as of yet, unless I am missing something.

The media is trying to "normalize" this hypocrite. You can go to some web site for shoes and there message board says that this hypocrite has cancelled the deal. The only thing he was canceling was him sitting on his golden thrown in the bathroom, tweeting.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

36. The aircraft is assembled from parts fabricated all around the country

For someone who keeps claiming he wants to preserve good American jobs, he sure wants to get rid of them real fast.

Fortunately he doesn't have much say in the matter.

I wonder why he suddenly brings this up? It's not like it's the most pressing thing for the president to be concerned with. He's supposed to be on his "Victory Tour" "Making America Great Again."

[Plucketeer]

26. IT's as simple as this....

If Trump utters it, you KNOW it's a lie.

[madokie]

29. Only fools believe Liars

tRump is a known Liar

[Blue Idaho]

32. The "Post Fact" world of Donald Trump not only shows he's a Liar.

It makes him prone to mad impetuous actions that will wreck our economy and put American freedom in jeopardy. I'm surprised he didn't personally take an M-16 into that Pizza joint and shoot the place up.

[MFM008]

38. Retaliation

Against Boeing.

[Sophiegirl]

40. Air Force One comes with...

...lots of bells and whistles your ordinary 747 has. Therefore, yeah, it costs a bit more.

http://listabuzz.com/air-force-one-a-peep-inside-the-us-presidential-jet-photos/

It's quite fascinating.

[47of74]

44. The 70 Year Old Man Baby Fornicate Face Orange Toxic Megacolon's problem with AF1 is that...

...the shitters are not gold plated.

[TubbersUK]

45. Good suggestion from Twitter

Eddie ?@eddie8374 2m2 minutes ago
Ok, since the media isn't capable of covering Trump I have a suggestion for who can: reformed con men.

[TeamPooka]

48. Journalists need to curate Trump's statements for news distribution. They can't just broadcast his

stuff live.
The lies are neverending and they look like fools doing things like just saying whatever he said about the Carrier deal for example before finding out the facts of it.
Curate the Trump News!

[whistler162]

52. To mangle Orson Welles on Paul Masson wines

The Press needs to start saying "We will publish no press release before it is verified!"

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

55. Of course it is

The twitter shitter just throws stuff at the wall to see what sticks.