WASHINGTON: A new Air Force One gifted by Qatar as a replacement aircraft for ferrying US presidents was unveiled Friday by the US Air Force.&nbsp;&ldquo;The Air Force&rsquo;s VC-25B Bridge aircraft has officially arrived at the Presidential Airlift Group and will commence its initial commissioning flights, marking the successful delivery of a secure, modified executive platform,&rdquo; the Air Force said.&nbsp;Qatar&rsquo;s gift of the aircraft valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars has raised ethical, constitutional and security concerns.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump was set to speak Friday at an event to mark the unveiling of the aircraft.&nbsp;Trump has previously it would be &ldquo;stupid&rdquo; to reject the gift, while also stoking further concern by saying the plane would eventually be donated to his presidential library.&nbsp;The US president has fixated on replacing the aircraft, which have been in service since the 1990s, since his first term.&nbsp;On Thursday, White House officials bade farewell to one of the two heavily modified Boeing 747s that have transported US presidents for decades, which fueled speculation that the new jet would be unveiled imminently.&nbsp;While the now-replaced aircraft sported a blue and white exterior, the new aircraft has a navy blue underbelly, thin red stripe and blue upper body.&nbsp;Whenever a US president is on the jet, it officially takes the call sign Air Force One.&nbsp;The US government has contracted Boeing to deliver two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as part of the presidential fleet, however the program has been plagued by delays and cost-overruns.

Middle East

Americas

The US Air Force unveiled a Qatar-gifted replacement aircraft for presidential transport. The modified jet will begin commissioning flights while Boeing’s delayed Air Force One replacement program continues.

Qatar-gifted Air Force One replacement unveiled

DAVOS: US President Donald Trump arrives in Davos for a showdown with European leaders on Wednesday as his bid to seize Greenland threatens to tear the transatlantic alliance apart.&nbsp;Trump mocked the Europeans a day before heading to the World Economic Forum, where he will be the star of a dark, self-made drama over the fate of the autonomous Danish territory.&nbsp;But leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort have closed ranks against Trump&#39;s aggressive stance, with French President Emmanuel Macron vowing to stand up against &quot;bullies&quot; and the EU promising an &quot;unflinching&quot; response.&nbsp;Asked how far he was prepared to go to<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-leaders-take-stage-in-davos-as-trump-rocks-global-order" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">acquire Greenland</a>&nbsp;from Denmark, a fellow NATO member, Trump told reporters: &quot;You&#39;ll find out.&quot;&nbsp;Later, as he left the White House, the president admitted he had &quot;no idea&quot; how the trip to Davos would pan out.&nbsp;It got off to an inauspicious start when a &quot;minor electrical issue&quot; forced his presidential jet to turn back shortly after takeoff, and Trump and his entourage had to switch to another plane.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s eagerly awaited speech at the annual gathering of the world&#39;s economic and political elite, which he is attending for the first time in six years, is scheduled for 2:30 pm (1330 GMT).&nbsp;But as the biggest rift opens between Washington and Europe in decades over his Greenland ambitions, Trump said he would have a number of meetings on the issue at Davos. &lsquo;Downward spiral&rsquo;Trump insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.&nbsp;He has turned up the pressure by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-also-has-a-lot-to-lose-from-threatened-tariffs-french-minister" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatening tariffs</a>&nbsp;of up to 25% on eight European countries for backing Denmark, prompting Europe to threaten countermeasures against the United States.&nbsp;Trump dismissed European threats to fire a trade &quot;bazooka&quot; at the United States.&nbsp;&quot;Anything they do with us...all I have to do is meet it, and it&#39;s going to go ricocheting backwards,&quot; he said in an interview with News Nation.&nbsp;&quot;But we&#39;re not looking into that. We&#39;ll probably be able to work something out, possibly even during the next few days,&quot; he added.&nbsp;At Davos on Tuesday, Macron, in sunglasses because of a burst blood vessel, warned against US attempts to &quot;subordinate Europe&quot;, and blasted Trump&#39;s tariff threats as &quot;unacceptable.&quot;&nbsp;Macron was the subject of Trump&#39;s mockery as he publicly revealed a text message from the French leader proposing a G7 summit in Paris on Thursday, on Greenland, as well as on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/macron-says-kyiv-allies-to-meet-in-paris-early-january" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukraine</a>.&nbsp;Trump later said he would not join any such meeting, while Macron clarified to AFP that no gathering was scheduled.&nbsp;European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, warned that Trump risked plunging US ties with the European Union into a &quot;downward spiral&quot;.&nbsp;And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has sought to reduce his own country&#39;s dependence on Washington since Trump called for it to become the 51st US state, won a standing ovation at Davos for his stance.&nbsp;&quot;Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark,&quot; Carney said.&nbsp;In his Davos speech, the White House said Trump wanted to focus on the US economy amid a cost-of-living crisis that threatens his Republicans in the 2026 midterms.&nbsp;But the US president&#39;s extraordinary assertion of US power on the world stage one year into his second term, means Greenland will form the backdrop to the address.&nbsp;&#39;End of NATO&#39;Greenland&#39;s prime minister said on Tuesday his tiny population of 57,000 must be prepared for military force.&nbsp;Lithuania&#39;s President Gitanas Nauseda told AFP at Davos that any such move by the United States against a fellow ally &quot;would be the end of NATO.&quot;&nbsp;Trump said he had done &quot;more for NATO than anyone&quot; and questioned whether allies would help the United States &mdash; even though Denmark was among those who did after the September 11, 2001 attacks.&nbsp;On Thursday, meanwhile, Trump is set to formally announce the first charter of his so-called &quot;Board of Peace,&quot; a body for resolving international conflicts with a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.&nbsp;The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but a draft of the charter seen by AFP does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.

Trump arrives in Davos amid Greenland tensions

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said Sunday he felt &quot;badly&quot; for the UK royal family after King Charles III revoked his brother Andrew&#39;s title of prince over his scandalous ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.&nbsp;&quot;I feel very badly. I mean, it&#39;s a terrible thing that&#39;s happened to the family,&quot; Trump said when asked by an AFP reporter aboard Air Force One about the recent saga.&nbsp;&quot;That&#39;s been a tragic situation, and it&#39;s too bad. I mean, I feel badly for the family.&quot;&nbsp;Trump, 79, has faced his own political woes in recent months over his own alleged relationship with Epstein, the New York financier and who died in prison in 2019.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s comments came&nbsp;as the British government said it would move to strip the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of his honorary title of vice-admiral, his last remaining military rank.&nbsp;The US president has frequently expressed admiration for Britain&#39;s royal family, most recently when Charles hosted him for a lavish state visit in September.&nbsp;Trump received a full state dinner at Windsor Castle, military parades and a flyover during the visit.&nbsp;But the so-called Epstein files have been the focal point of a controversy engulfing the second presidency of Trump, who was a longtime friend of Epstein.&nbsp;In July, the Trump administration announced that it had discovered no new evidence justifying the release of additional documents or the opening of a new investigation into the matter.&nbsp;Epstein died while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls recruited to provide him with sexual massages.&nbsp;Conspiracy theoriesAuthorities ruled his death a suicide, but it has fueled countless conspiracy theories among Trump&#39;s voter base that he was murdered to prevent him from implicating high-profile figures.&nbsp;Republican Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement with the Epstein affair, dismissing it as a &quot;hoax&quot; by rival Democrats.&nbsp;Former prince Andrew&#39;s ties to Epstein have sparked growing anger in Britain.&nbsp;Charles on Thursday removed all his younger brother&#39;s remaining royal titles and honors and ousted him from his long-term residence on the Windsor estate.&nbsp;Defense minister John Healey told the BBC on Sunday that &quot;guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has.&quot;&nbsp;Andrew was stripped of his other honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022 after he was sued by Virginia Giuffre, Epstein&#39;s main accuser.&nbsp;The king&#39;s younger brother was once feted for his role as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands War. He retired in 2001 after 22 years of service.&nbsp;Andrew has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre, who said in her posthumous memoir published in October that she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions, twice when she was just 17.

United Kingdom

Trump's comments come as the British government said it would move to strip the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of his honorary title of vice-admiral, his last remaining military rank.

Articles tagged with "Air Force One"

Qatar-gifted Air Force One replacement unveiled

Trump arrives in Davos amid Greenland tensions

Trump says feels 'badly' for UK royal family over Andrew-Epstein saga

Qatar-gifted Air Force One replacement unveiled