Hegseth resists when pushed to explain Trump’s Air Force One deal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday resisted lawmakers’ demands for transparency about the luxury airplane from Qatar that President Donald Trump wants to use as Air Force One, rebuffing several sharp questions about the Boeing 747-8 jetliner and the terms surrounding its transfer to the U.S. government.

At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday — during which Hegseth was grilled on the Defense Department’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year and its approach to global conflicts — Democrats were intently focused on the plane that Trump has claimed would be a “gift” to the United States. The Pentagon said last month that it had taken possession of the jetliner, even though legal teams representing the two countries have not finalized an agreement that would allow such a transfer.

Hegseth confirmed a Washington Post report from last month revealing that the agreement has not been signed despite one of his top aides having claimed that the secretary had accepted the Qatari jet. Yet Hegseth declined to answer several other questions about it, citing the unclassified nature of the hearing.

When Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked, for instance, how long it might take for a contractor to reconfigure the aircraft to meet rigorous safety and security standards for the Air Force One mission, Hegseth said that information was “not for public consumption.”

Hegseth also said he could not reveal the cost of such a contract, a rebuff that appeared to anger the usually low-key Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Why can’t it be revealed in this setting?” Reed snapped. “This is the Appropriations Committee of the United States Senate. We appropriate the money that you will spend after it’s authorized by my committee.”

Reed criticized the secrecy shrouding the Trump administration’s deal with Qatar and said the plane was “not only a bad deal for the American public” but also about “gratifying the president’s ego.”

As The Post reported last month, Air Force officials estimated it could cost $1.5 billion to bring the Qatari plane up to satisfactory maintenance conditions for presidential transport, and another $500 million to remove the military gear and convert the aircraft for civilian use after Trump’s term.

Trump, who has denied the plane is a personal gift to him, has said the aircraft would be transferred to his presidential library after he leaves office.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) noted Wednesday that when Trump signed a contract with Boeing in 2018 for Air Force One replacements, during his first term, those terms were disclosed. Murphy also pointed out that Air Force officials had testified before the House that those new Air Force One planes probably would be ready for use by 2028.

“It doesn’t stand to reason that you will be able to retrofit the plane from Qatar much sooner than 2028, so I’m trying to understand what the gap is that we’re trying to fill,” Murphy said. “If this contract ends up being a half-billion [dollars] and the gap only ends up being six months, that doesn’t sound like a wise investment for this committee to make.”

Hegseth deferred the question to the Air Force but noted there also had been “delay after delay on the Boeing side,” suggesting the planes that are under contract might not be ready by 2028.

“But why would we ask the American taxpayer to spend upward of $1 billion on a plane that would then only be used for a handful of months and then transfer directly to the president? That doesn’t sound like a wise use of taxpayer dollars,” Murphy pressed.

Hegseth maintained that there are reasons — which he said should remain classified — that justify modifying an aircraft even for a short period of time “to ensure the safety and security of the president of United States.”

“We’re talking about a pretty massive investment of appropriations dollars into a plane that the secretary is saying is currently planned to be transferred personally to the president,” Murphy concluded. “There’s a lot of other pending needs that we need to fund. This would seem to be low on the list.”

In a separate exchange during the hearing with Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Hegseth declined to say whether the U.S. or Qatar initiated discussions over the jet’s transfer. Trump has said that Qatar approached the U.S. about it, while other officials have said the Trump team first raised the issue.

Trump has steadfastly defended the arrangement and waved off the ethical and national security concerns it has raised, even from some Republicans.

“I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane,’ but I thought it was a great gesture,” Trump told reporters last month.