Today I’ve got a guest post from my friend Poppy Gallagher who is writing about what one would expect to be America’s favourite aircraft: Air Force One. I hope you find it interesting.

Back in 2016, Trump repeatedly expressed his distaste for Air Force One, having previously called it ‘ridiculous’ and ‘totally out of control’ in regards to the costs of the aircraft, and had even called for the new Boeing Air Force One to be scrapped. Trump is already being known as a controversial president, and his own private jet, nicknamed Trump Force One, had previously been used by the new President for various outings. Trump bought the jet back in 2011, and has since equipped the airliner with plenty of luxurious fixtures that were available to him. Referring to the plane as T-Bird and since his election ‘Trump Force One’, his own private jet is said to be worth more than $100 million.

The luxurious fixtures on the plane include gold-karat fixtures in the office, two bedrooms, gold-plated seat belts, silk pillows embroidered with Trump’s family crest, wood panelling in Trump’s reserved bedroom and is even powered by two Rolls Royce turbo-fan engines. On top of this, there is a home cinema which features a 57-inch screen and sound system. Trump is so proud of his private jet that he has even created a tour video of Trump Force One, available for everyone to watch.

However, in January, Trump swapped his private jet for the first time ever and took a trip on Air Force One. This seemed to change his tune. Donald Trump reportedly said: “It’s beautiful, a great plane, really beautiful”, and very quickly seemed to change his stance on the plane. Nevertheless, the controversial president is known for putting his own personal touch on this, and this is highly likely to continue throughout his presidency. Having already put the bust of Winston Churchill back in the White House and pouring over 17 different options for the drapes in the Oval Office (finally settling on gold), many people are jumping on board to have fun with the President’s new style, and this has influenced a number of games, memes and more across the internet. Once such game is the Trump’s White House game by Ladbrokes, where players can spend time customising their very own White House to match the style of Trump. With his animosity towards Air Force One, it’s likely that we’ll see a brand new customised Presidential Jet in the near future too!

While he seemed to be somewhat impressed by the Air Force One, new reports have been released suggesting that the President’s fleet is going to get an upgrade. While Obama managed to make high-profile attempts to scale back costs on aircrafts, in his case the Marine One helicopters, Trump is looking to use his keen interest in aviation to upgrade the President’s jet. After a number of meetings with Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg in order to try and reduce the cost of the plane, both parties have reportedly come to an agreement that it does indeed need a number of upgrades – but according to Trump not at the cost of “more than $4 billion”.

In terms of design, Trump is likely to have final say, and the new Boeing that is set to be designed will be able to fly almost 1000 nautical miles more than the current Air Force One. With flashy gold and a silk lined master bedroom in his own private jet, it is highly likely that the new Air Force One’s finishing touches will be just the same.