From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Trump shows off new Air Force One, defends taking it as gift from Qatari royal family
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US President Donald Trump shows off the new Air Force One and defends accepting the luxury jet from the Qatari royal family as he campaigns for Republicans in an economically struggling corner of rural Arizona.
His first substantive comments after he gets off the plane to address the airport rally describes learning that the Qataris had “the best of all the 747s.” He says he called to ask the country’s leader to borrow the aircraft before the emir offered it instead as a gift.
Trump accepted the airplane last year despite strong bipartisan criticism, including from some of his staunchest Republican supporters.
“When you’re given gifts, you take ’em, right?” Trump tells the crowd in Bullhead City. “When they give you a 747 you say two words: ‘thank you.’”
Trump is on his second day of a Western campaign swing and is headed to a Republican-leaning US House district in Montana after Arizona, continuing a midterm roadshow designed to rally the GOP. He campaigned in Alaska on Tuesday and in Ohio on Monday.
The Times of Israel Community.