US Politics
Trump shows off design for ‘America First 250’ plane in flurry of morning social media posts
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President Donald Trump showed off a model “America First 250” plane in a flurry of social media posts he fired off the day after Christmas.
At one point, Trump was posting on Truth Social on average every two minutes early Friday morning.
One of the posts was a picture of the president beaming in the Oval Office with the model aircraft on the Resolute Desk.
The new photo was posted without comment, as the president fired off other messages ranging from ending the Senate “zombie apocalypse” filibuster, touting federal unemployment levels, and a news article about the Jeffrey Epstein files “blowing back” on Democrats.
It followed a bizarre Christmas Day Truth Social post from the president about Epstein, saying that he dropped ties with the late sex offender “long before it became fashionable,” and that the controversy surrounding the release of the files is a “Radical Left Witch Hunt.”
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The jet — which bares the slogan “America First” on the fuselage with “250” towards the empennage — appeared to be a reference to the nation’s semiquincentennial anniversary, which takes place next year.
Trump has already announced plans for the anniversary, including a UFC event on the White House South Lawn, as well a competition for young athletes called the ‘Patriot Games,’ which has drawn unfavourable comparisons to The Hunger Games franchise.
The picture of Trump with the model plane was also posted by the official White House account. The lack of context led a handful of followers to question whether the miniature aircraft was the $400 million jet the president accepted from Qatar.
In the spring, Trump accepted the luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar as a stand-in for Air Force One after complaining about the length of time it was taking the U.S. aircraft giant to build replacements.
“Is that the Qatar plane?” one person replied to the White House account.
“Is that the new Air Force one?” asked another.
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Trump’s acceptance of the plane caused an ethics uproar at the time, despite his assurances it would go to his presidential library once he leaves office.
Amid a furore in Congress over the jet potentially violating the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause, Justice Department lawyers moved quickly to rule that taking delivery of it would break no laws.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House lawyer David Warrington said they had concluded the donation of the aircraft was “legally permissible.”
It was reported in late July that the U.S. had already begun refitting the plane at great expense, with Trump himself saying it could be ready for service by February 2026.
Joe Sommerlad contributed reporting.