With even numerous Republicans objecting Trump might not get his precious bribe luxury jet from Qatar. However DHS Secretary Kristi Noem looked at what was going on with her boss getting a newer jet and decided she wanted in on that kind of action. So she had a last minute addition slipped into a Coast Guard budget request for a brand new Gulfstream V jet to fly around in! We the taxpayers of course will pick up the tab so the government’s top shooter of puppies in the face has the very latest in luxury transportation.
For those who don’t know the Air Force maintains a fleet of aircraft for use by top government officials. You’re of course familiar with the iconic Presidential planes, those 747s that operate as Air Force One when one of them (there are two) flies the President somewhere. However there are other jets, nicely appointed of course to fly around other government muckety mucks. Congressional and other delegations for example. Then there are the smaller, true luxury jets of the kind owned by uber rich people or top corporate types converted into aircraft for the top folks. As with the President there are special needs (mostly for secure communications) and therefore costs.
Like any aircraft that gets regular use they require maintenance, more so as they age. And gosh darn it after a while that obvious ‘brand spanking new’ aspect fades. Think that ‘new car smell’ and that bit of sadness when you realize it’s gone. Well, Kristi Noem isn’t putting up with THAT. So, as this Raw Story article tells us she’s decided to jump in on the action Trump started with his trying to get hold of a luxury jet newer than the several decades old planes that currently get used by him. Oh, they have plenty more life left in them and are superbly appointed and luxurious, more so for their VIP main passenger.
Still, it takes more time and money to maintain them after a while so replacing them is a natural thing. To be fair the same is true of the other aircraft the Air Force keeps in it’s “Executive Fleet.” The linked article gives a decent description of the fact some of these planes are converted Gulfstream aircraft. The kinds of jets I already mentioned it takes really rich people or businesses to afford. Noem it seems wants a new one so she’s gone for it using the Coast Guard budget to get what she wants:
The U.S. Coast Guard has asked for an additional $50 million in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget to pay for a “new Gulfstream 5 jet for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem,” Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) noted on X.
“My committee just received a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard’s spend plan: $50 million for a new Gulfstream 5 jet for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s personal use,” Underwood wrote on X. “She already has a Gulfstream 5, by the way, but she wants a new one paid for with your taxpayer dollars.”
At the start of the hearing Noem was all about ‘the Coast Guard needing to do more with fewer resources. Yet during the hearing she told Admiral Kevin Lundey she supported large increases to his budget! Well, which is it Kristi? ‘More with less’ or ‘bigly increase to your budget?’ Obviously the attempt at sleight of hand with the last minute fifty million bucks for a brand new Gulfstream V indicates she’s for the latter. At least on this one thing. I for one would be at all surprised to see her cut the money the Coast Guard needs for it’s actual work, like saving lives and interdicting drugs etc. As long as she gets taxpayers to provide her a new jet! Fortunately Underwood is making a thing out of this, as well she should:
“But I’m concerned that this administration’s political goals are shifting those political resources away from strategic theaters where bad actors are aggressively testing American resolve,” Underwood said.
“Have you received any outreach, requests or other communication from anyone above you at DHS or any political appointee in the Trump administration for a new plane for the secretary?” she asked.
Well, with the GOP in control of Congress odds are Noem will get her new ride and Trumpy won’t. But you never know. If the realization sets in that too much hell is being raised about accepting his bribe jet from Qatar he might get wind of Noem’s move and do a “If I can’t get a fancy new (albeit 13 year old) jet then nobody else can” attitude and have it taken out of the final appropriation.
For now, I’ll amuse myself with thoughts of Trump cabinet members when the Qatar deal was announced having visions of being guest on Oprah with him as her guest – and him shouting YOU get a new jet, and YOU get a new jet. ALL of my people get new jets!” Only to wake up to reality and realize that no, not even Trump is getting his new jet until Boeing finishes work on the two they’ve been making already. Unless like Noem they can use a military budget method for trying to score one.
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Democrats NEED to hold up any budget requests until Noem can present an absolute reason–fully detailed, down to the last penny–as to why she needs a new aircraft for her use. And they need to tell Johnson if he doesn’t pay heed to their demands, challenge him to explain why it’s okay for Noem to make this request (demand?), then ask him if he would’ve been supportive of former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s requesting a brand-new aircraft for HIS use. If Johnson wouldn’t (and, considering he was one of the GOPers who voted to impeach Mayorkas–solely on POLICY disputes rather than any “high crimes and misdemeanors” as required by the Constitution–I kind of doubt he’d have gone along with a request by Mayorkas for a new plane), then he can’t–in good conscience (or whatever passes as such for Republicons)–even begin considering Noem’s request.
🤔 I wonder if Noem, or Trump for that matter, realize that a new Gulfstream actually outdoes Trump’s POS plane from Qatar. For a guy whose only goal in life is to be seen as The Great Dealmaker who will never be a sucker or a loser, this old albatross from Qatar is a weird grift. Qatar’s been selling its fleet where it could and giving them away to suckers when they can’t. Forbes has the article* that explains the problems with accepting another nation’s hand-me-downs.
* https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2025/05/14/qatar-747-trump/?cdlcid=5d16704a1802c8c524c247ae§ion=
I’m sure that plane is ridiculously lavish. However, as Lawrence O’Donnell pointed out last night it wasn’t good enough for Qatar’s dictator! He wanted something even MORE blinged out so he just abandoned it and it’s been sitting at a San Antonio airport. A now 13 year old hand-me-down because it wasn’t fancy enough for me item to give away. In Trump’s case in exchange for something of course.
Trump already gets to fly on a luxurious plane, that’s actually the most expensive aircraft in the world due to all it’s features. His problem is he wants all that expensive stuff, the avionics, communications, defensive capability, aerial refueling capability etc. BUT he wants the interior to look like his tacky assed Trump Tower condo! Gold, gold and more gold. NOTHING but gold for all to see. Most, if not all of it fake gold or with some the very thinnest of gold plating but GOLD.
He’s doing the same with the Oval Office. I swear the a-hole would bling out the entire WH with his tasteless pursuit of being surrounded by nothing but gold.