Warren, Garamendi, Congressional Leaders Demand Air Force Provide Details on Qatari Jet Funding
“It appears that funds for programs that the Air Force has continually claimed are among its top national security priorities are now being used as accounts for presidential whims, while the egregious lack of transparency hides the true costs of these programs from taxpayers.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), along with Representatives John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, demanding that the Air Force provide details on using funding from the Sentinel nuclear program to pay for retrofits for the luxury jet Qatar is giving President Trump.
“We write with concerns about how the Air Force is managing nuclear modernization funds, including whether those funds are being raided to retrofit a personal gift to President Trump that likely violates the emoluments clause of the Constitution,” wrote the lawmakers.
On May 11, the Trump administration announced it was planning to accept a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the Qatari royal family. This deal gave Trump a jet that would 1) likely require taxpayers to pay at least $1 billion to retrofit it for the safe transportation of the president, and 2) only be used by the president for a few years before it would be donated to President Trump’s presidential library.
“[B]y providing the president with a ‘palace in the sky’ it clearly appears that Qatar is trying to curry favor with the administration,” continued the lawmakers.
Secretary Meink testified that this plane needs “significant modifications” to meet Air Force One standards, with reports showing that the funds to make those repairs may be coming from the Sentinel nuclear missile program – a program that is already set to be delayed several years and costs 81 percent more than initial estimates. Still, the Air Force has claimed to Congress that the program is a top priority.
Concerns about Sentinel’s budget being used for other projects have been raised before. Senator Fischer said the Air Force was positioning itself to be able to “raid Sentinel budget lines to pay for other programs,” and Senator McConnell said that putting funding for the Sentinel program in both the reconciliation bill and annual appropriations bills would “function like a shell game.”
“Now, our concerns, and those of other members, appear to be prescient as part of the Sentinel program’s bloated budget is being redirected to an unintended purpose: retrofitting the Qatari luxury jet to serve as Air Force One — and subsequently, after he has left office, as the Trump library’s private plane,” the lawmakers wrote.
The members note that there are still many unknowns about this deal, including the total price tag and information on whether additional retrofit costs will continue to eat into Sentinel funding or extend beyond to other Air Force programs.
“While it is critical to keep the President and his communications safe from any future adversaries, we have serious concerns that this unconstitutional payoff is now wasting taxpayer dollars,” the lawmakers concluded. “It appears that funds for programs that the Air Force has continually claimed are among its top national security priorities are now being used as accounts for presidential whims, while the egregious lack of transparency hides the true costs of these programs from taxpayers.”
To provide Congress more clarity on these Air Force priorities, the members are requesting answers from Secretary Meink by August 20, 2025.
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