Red, white and blue. Makes sense.
The Pentagon on Monday revealed the final paint job specs for a pair of new Air Force One presidential airplanes — white on the top, blue on the bottom with a white and red stripe above the blue. A huge red, white and bluje U.S. flag adorns the tail.
The color scheme came out as part of the annual budget process. The Air Force is requesting a little more than $800 million in fiscal 2021 for the “VC-25B Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program.” Under the plan, the two existing Air Force One aircraft will be replaced with two new, heavily modified Boeing 747-8s.
The new aircraft, the Pentagon said, “will provide the President, staff, and guests with safe and reliable air transportation at the same level of security and communications capability available in the White House,” according to budget documents.
Trump has sought to change the color scheme since 2018 as plans emerged to order two new presidential planes (fun fact: any plane is called Air Force One when the president is aboard). The well-known robin’s egg blue planes were designed by former President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and Trump feels its time for a change.
The new color scheme is reminiscent of Trump’s campaign plane, although inverted.
Democrats, though, have (of course) pushed back against the new planes.
“The House Armed Services Committee, worried that Trump would seek unnecessary and costly changes to the aircraft upgrade, last year sought to require congressional approval for alterations to the aircraft’s paint scheme and interior design. The amendment did not make it into the final fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act,” The Hill reports.
And The Hill notes: “A final decision on the planes’ paint color and design isn’t set until 2021, however, making it possible that it won’t be changed if Trump fails to win reelection this year.”
