INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Donald Trump Wants To Update Air Force One’s Paint Scheme, The Internet Has Some Ideas

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 09:22 PST, Jul 13, 2018

Donald Trump would like Air Force One to have a more “American” paint job, Huffington Post is reporting. And the internet has some suggestions — many of which Trump isn’t likely to appreciate, as you’ll see in the images below.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the two Boeing 747s that serve as the official presidential means of air travel date back to the Clinton administration, and the aging aircraft are going to be replaced. According to an inside source close to the negotiations, Trump and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg met back in February of 2017 to discuss some specifics. And one thing Trump wanted to change was the color scheme on the aircraft; two shades of blue that date back to the Kennedy administration, and of which Trump is apparently not a fan.

When the new aircraft enter service, likely in about three years, Trump would like them to have a better paint job. Twitter users went nuts with this.

Business Insider, for example, suggested the most American color scheme possible, complete with the Stars & Stripes, an eagle in flight, and the Statue of Liberty adorning the tail.

The New York Post went for a similar “America! Hell Yeah!” kind of theme.

Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel, on the other hand, suggested retrofitting the aircraft to look like a monster truck, for reasons perhaps best not discussed here.

Sacramento Bee cartoonist Jack Ohman also has an idea.

Twitter user Will Britton referenced Soul Plane, the forgettable 2004 movie starring Snoop Dogg about a tricked-out airplane.

Meanwhile, user Stan Yee eschewed subtlety entirely.

Joking aside, Air Force One isn’t likely to get a new color scheme any time soon, for a variety of reasons.

First, the terminology is all wrong. “Air Force One” actually refers to whatever aircraft the president is on at the time. So if Trump is on one of his private jets, for example, that jet is “Air Force One” for as long as he’s on it. But of course, when we say “Air Force One” in this context, we’re talking about two aircraft, actually, whose real names are the far less patriotic-sounding SAM 28000 and SAM 29000.

Second, the Air Force isn’t at all on board with the idea, noting that the color scheme is at once iconic, instantly recognizable, and eminently historic.

And third, the two new aircraft aren’t likely to be in use until 2021. In the event that Trump doesn’t win re-election in 2020, he’ll be out of office before the new aircraft leave the factory.

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