Air Force One set for makeover paint job with new colours

The US presidential jet is getting a new paint design that will include one of President Donald Trump's preferred colour choices for the White House and his hotels, gold.

Air Force One and other planes used by high level US officials, including First Lady Melania Trump, are being repainted gold, deep red and navy blue as they undergo scheduled repairs and maintenance, according to the US Air Force.

The colours will also feature on a new luxury 747-8i Boeing plane donated to the presidential fleet by Qatar, an Air Force spokesperson told CBS.

The white, blue and robin's egg blue associated with the presidential jet have been in use since the 1960s, when John F Kennedy was president.

Trump has called for updates to the executive fleet since his first term. His successor, former President Joe Biden, cancelled a broad makeover Trump had initially planned.

The new colours have already been spotted on model aircraft seen at the White House, where Trump is also making his aesthetic imprint, from the large-scale plans for a new ballroom to the more subtle installation of signs in a curling font in gold.

The private plane Trump travelled on during his 2024 campaign, sometimes called "Trump Force One", used the same colour palette that will be given to the presidential fleet.

While it is not clear how much the paint jobs will cost, the US Air Force, which operates the executive planes, said in a statement to the BBC that the new colour requirements were "not expected to result in additional delays or costs to the program."

It added that it was implementing the new colour scheme on the Boeing VC-25B (a variation of the Boeing 747) currently used to transport the president, as well as four C-32 jets often used as "Air Force Two" for the vice-president, and the jet donated by Qatar. Painting has been completed on of the C-32 aircraft.

Preparations began last summer for the Pentagon to refit the Qatari jumbo jet that is expected to serve as Air Force One. The Boeing aircraft - valued at $400m (£300m) - was donated by Qatar as an "unconditional" gift, with any necessary retrofitting costs being borne by the US government.

While any plane where the president is a passenger is called "Air Force One", the holder of the highest office in the country most often flies on a specialised jet that includes an office, a bedroom suite, two kitchen galleys that can prepare 100 meals, office space and a medical facility, according to Boeing.