The Eye-Watering Amount Donald Trump's Air Force One Costs Per Hour

President Donald J. Trump is no stranger to traveling on private planes. Long before he entered politics, he, like many other billionaires, developed a love of personal jets (Trump-branded of course), which became his preferred method of travel from city to city. Though he first moved into the aviation business in the late 1980s, the first time he adopted a plane to use exclusively for private travel was in 1997, when he repurposed a Boeing 727, formerly of his "Trump Shuttle" airline, for his own continued personal use. At the start of the 2010s, this was replaced with an enormous Boeing 757, known affectionately as Trump Force One. And when he became president in 2016, he was soon able to indulge his love of luxury travel on the taxpayer's dollar with the use of the sumptuous Air Force One.

While it is commonly held that "Air Force One" is the name of the presidential aircraft, it is actually the codename used by the military and security services to describe any plane carrying the U.S. president. More accurately, what we consider Air Force One is actually two planes: A pair of customized Boeing 747-200B jumbo jets ready for his continued use. And Trump does use them, traveling between his properties frequently at' per The Palm Beach Post.

Air Force One is more than just a luxury vehicle — it's specifically designed to carry and protect the world's most powerful political figure. The aircraft is a wonder of engineering and technology, with specialist onboard defence technology, a staffed medical department in case the president is taken ill, and communications systems to keep the head of state abreast of developments on the ground and allow them to exert executive power even while in transit.

Along with all this, presidential travel in Air Force One means the deployment of a whole convoy of accompanying vehicles, including a Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy airplane that arrives before the American leader to deploy the presidential helicopter. Presidential flights are, of course, potential targets for enemies of the United States, and, as such, Air Force One is always accompanied by several fighter jets to deter any attempt at interception.

In the first few months of his second presidency, President Donald Trump made frequent flights from Washington, D.C., to Miami, Florida, to his preferred Mar-a-Lago estate. Called his "summer White House" during his first term, Trump has continued his habit of abandoning the Oval Office most weekends to attend social events in the Sunshine State, particularly golf tournaments at his numerous courses. It likely cost millions to cover these trips. But the security of the president is paramount, and there is no more suitable option when it comes to presidential travel.

Donald Trump earned his right to Air Force One after winning the presidency, but he hasn't exactly been gushing with praise for the storied Boeing. "You look at some of the Arab countries, and the planes they have parked alongside the United States of America's plane — it's like from a different planet," he declared in 2025 (per Forbes). The comment came in the context of a controversial gift the president had received from the Arabian nation of Qatar: An enormous Boeing 747-8, which is 18 feet longer than the current Air Force One model. 

There are strict rules about the giving and receiving of presidential gifts. Typically, they have to be registered, and presents of a certain value end up being handed over to the presidential library. Indeed, critics lamented the size of the gift as tantamount to corruption — the plane is worth around $300 million, and such gifts need to be approved by Congress. Yet Trump brushed off the criticism by saying it was an offering for the United States as a whole. And though he originally claimed the plane was too big for presidential use, the Pentagon has since confirmed that plans are being made to convert the 747-8 into the new Air Force One. Whether the running costs of the new model will be more than those of the 747-200Bs currently in operation is unclear.