GOP blocks Schumer’s effort to ground taxpayer funding for Trump’s Qatari Air Force One

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., prepares to speak during a press conference following a policy luncheon at the U.S.Capitol on July 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C.They discussed Republican budget proposals and the Iran war.(Getty Images)

The administration estimated that upgrading the aircraft, which already has a base value of $400 million, could cost up to $1 billion. 

“The luxury jet may have come wrapped in a bow for Donald Trump, but it came with a massive price tag for the American people,” Schumer said onthe Senate floor.“Trump is asking taxpayers to fork over an estimated $1 billion to retrofit, and max out his flying palace, so it can meet the security standards of the existing Air Force One fleet.”

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“That, of course, we already paid for,” he continued.“Americans can’t afford gas, can’t afford groceries, can’t afford their electric bill.But Trump thinks they can afford to fly him in style.”

Schumer tried to forcefully pass his bill,Presidential Airlift Security Act,Wednesday afternoon, which would require that no Department of War funding may go to the purchase, modification, restoration or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government.

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And it comes after Trump, after pressure from the Secret Service, opted to fly back to the U.S.from Turkey in a different plane thanthe new Air Force Onebecause of a lack of proper security enhancements, like countermeasures for heat-seeking missiles.

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Trump told reporters on Sunday, when asked why the deterrence systems weren’t visible on the new plane, said that the plane, “has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out.”

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White House Press SecretaryKaroline Leavittconfirmed Trump, and told reporters on Monday that while the new Air Force One is “perfectly safe for the president’s travels,” it was slated to receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall that would keep the plane on the ground for a month.

“During that time, the president will fly on the old Air Force One,” she said.

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President Donald Trump boards the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, Britain, after attending a NATO leaders summit in Turkey, on July 8, 2026.(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Schumer’s gamble was promptly blocked by Sen.Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who argued that the legislation was more far reaching than just halting taxpayer dollars from upgrading the Qatari jet, and hamper the country’s capabilitiesin the face ofa nuclear threat.

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“Unfortunately, this legislation would also apply to a different aircraft, the Survivable Air Operations Center aircraft, or SAOC,” Fischer said.“Those aircraft were actually purchased from Korean Air.So this legislation would hamper a crucial program that ensures presidential safety in the event of a nuclear war.”

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She argued that the SAOC played a crucial role in the nation’s planning in response to a nuclear threat — Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications, known as NC3 — and that Schumer’s move would “significantly harm” the country’s key nuclear deterrent.

“This is the plane that will command and control our nuclear weapons on America’s worst day.We cannot play these political games with the NC three,” Fischer said.

S.Senate.