Donald Trump’s aircraft accepted as a gift from Qatar flew as Air Force One for the first time on Wednesday, giving the presidential fleet a temporary new look and a new name in service. Trump boarded the plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after calling it the "best plane ever built," then landed later in Medora, North Dakota, for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The plane is the VC-25B Bridge, an interim presidential aircraft meant to cover the gap before Boeing’s customized VC-25Bs are finished in 2027 or 2028. It is larger than the outgoing VC-25A, measuring 250 feet long with a wingspan of 224 feet and 5 inches, compared with 231 feet and 10 inches long and 195 feet and 8 inches across for the older jet. The difference is not just in size. The VC-25B Bridge can fly at 660 miles per hour and has a range of 8,900 miles, outpacing the VC-25A’s 630 miles per hour and 7,800 miles without refueling, though both planes can still take fuel in midair.
That makes the new aircraft a practical stopgap as much as a symbol. The first VC-25A, known as SAM 28000, began serving as Air Force One in 1990, and the second identical jet, SAM 29000, entered service in 1991. Since then, the presidential plane has been rebuilt around newer demands, and Trump has pushed hard for the red, white and blue scheme now on the aircraft. On June 19, after touring it at Joint Base Andrews, he said, "As you know, we've always gone with a straight little noodle and I never loved that," before adding, "Now we have a wavy, beautiful flag. We're waving it proudly because our country is doing so well."
That redesign did not come easily. During Trump’s first term, the Air Force rejected the navy paint color he had proposed for the forthcoming VC-25Bs because a thermal study found the darker shade would need more testing to avoid overheating issues. He got the colors he wanted in his second term instead, along with a reimagined tail flag that breaks from the cleaner lines used on earlier presidential aircraft. Jacqueline Kennedy had chosen the shades of blue and white for SAM 26000, the Boeing VC-137C that entered service in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy, and had also added the words "United States of America" to the plane, with the flag on the tail carried according to the US Flag Code.
For now, the question is not whether this aircraft can carry the president. It has now done that. The question is how long the VC-25B Bridge will remain the face of Air Force One before Boeing’s completed replacement jets arrive in 2027 or 2028 and take over the role for good.
