From PBS NewsHour.
Senators are demanding more details from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a luxury jet as a gift from the Qatari government.
Hegseth’s testimony came during a Senate subcommittee hearing on the department’s budget. The Air Force is expected to reconfigure the plane, a Boeing 747, so it can be used as Air Force One.
There have been slim details on the future presidential aircraft and Hegseth declined to offer more information to lawmakers Wednesday.
“Any specifics about future aircraft that could be Air Force One can’t be discussed here,” Hegseth told Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., adding that a memorandum of understanding remains to be signed.
Reed pressed on, asking whether the contract to reconfigure the plane was signed and for an estimated final cost. Hegseth said such information “cannot be revealed in this setting.”
“Why can’t it be revealed?” Reed asked. “This is the appropriation committee of the United States Senate. We appropriate the money that you will spend after it’s authorized by my committee, and you cannot tell us how much the contract is for?”
Hegseth declined to provide a figure. Reed again asked if a contract was signed. Hegseth said he wasn’t aware of a contract being executed, though Reed said this is contrary to what he’s heard.
Reed asked about a delivery time in the contract. Hegseth said that kind of information “is not for public consumption.”
Later, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., doubled down on these questions, and pointed to Air Force testimony that the plane would not be ready until 2028, months before the end of Trump’s term. He also asked about Trump’s suggestion last month that the jet would be transferred to his presidential library at the end of his term.
Hegseth confirmed that was also his understanding.
"Why would we ask the American taxpayer to spend upwards of a billion dollars on a plane that would then only be used for a handful of months and then transferred directly to the president? That doesn’t sound like a wise use of taxpayer dollars," Murphy responded.
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
X: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour
