Devil's-ish Advocate:
If it's the one I'm thinking off, it has sat at a civilian boneyard in Marana, AZ since 2019 or something. Trump called for the original VC-25 replacement to be cancelled back in his first term (maybe he cancelled it, I don't know). Acquiring and modifying two a/c would have cost something stupid, like 4 billion or some retarded number. Boeing's replacements for the E-4 are two former 747-8's built for a Russian airline but never left the US. So, we're looking at 4 747-8's, probably all of which are foreign aircraft.
That said, keeping the plane is horseshit. Great, $400 million is "free", but the cost to convert will exceed that amount. There's no world in which he should keep the plane. As much as I hate Qatar, a state sponsor of terrorism, the gift is worth it if We The People keep the plane.
Where I have a problem with this lies in the arms deal we'll give to Qatar. No one rides for free and the Qataris are dirty motherfuckers. State sponsors of terrorism. I can't emphasize that enough.
I don't care what Biden would do or "how would you react if..." takes. This is today. The discussion should boil down to:
- Donating to the museum.
- Cost to the American taxpayer including refurbishment and the physical status of other 747-8's; what would it cost to acquire them?
- How cool are we with sponsoring terrorists, even if they would probably support a war against Iran? Maybe. The CAOC and Al Udeid argument is a whole different can of worms.
ETA: some spelling corrections.
