President Donald Trump unveiled his plan for the livery of the next Air Force One during a June 13 television interview, though the new paint scheme may require Congressional approval. During an interview with ABC News, Trump showed a piece of paper with the proposed redesigned paint scheme for the next Air Force One. Unlike the white, blues, and chrome livery of the current VC-25A, the VC-25B would be blue on its bottom, with a red strike and a white top half.
“We had different choices here,” Trump told ABC host George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office interview. “These are all slightly different.”
A close-up from the ABC News/”Good Morning America” interview shows multiple variations on the proposed paint-job. Screenshot via ABC News/”Good Morning America” video
The interview came one day after the House Armed Services Committee, during its markup of the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill, voted to restrict the paint scheme, interiors, and livery of the VC-25B without Congressional approval. The provision in the measure calls on the livery to comply with strict criteria in a Boeing report, which has not been made public. Since being elected in November 2016, Trump has taken a keen interest in Air Force One. Just a month after the election, he met with Boeing executive Dennis Muilenberg to discuss the overall cost of the replacement program shortly after he Tweeted a demand to cancel the order over cost. Shortly after, he also met with then-Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Carlton Everhart, who said he had a “very interesting conversation” with the then-President elect about features on the aircraft.
In February 2018, the White House announced it reached a deal with Boeing to buy the two 747-8Is for $3.9 billion—down from an unofficial White House estimate of $5 billion and a 2016 cost estimate of about $4 billion. Boeing reached cost savings by buying the aircraft back from the boneyard and changing requirements, such as not including aerial refueling capability.
Last summer, Boeing received the $3.9 billion contract for the design, modification, testing, certification, and fielding of two 747-8Is to be the next Air Force One. Work is expected to be completed on the aircraft by December 2024.
President Donald Trump showcases a proposed paint job for Air Force One during an interview with ABC News and "Good Morning America." ABC News/Good Morning America video screenshot
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.