President Donald Trump is expected to use a refurbished Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar for the first time as he travels to dedicate the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library ahead of July Fourth celebrations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump is expected to debut a newly refurbished Boeing 747 serving as Air Force One on Wednesday during a trip to North Dakota for the dedication of a museum honoring former President Theodore Roosevelt.
The aircraft, gifted by Qatar, features a red, white, dark blue and gold paint scheme selected by Trump. The president is traveling to Medora, North Dakota, where the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is scheduled to open Saturday.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks connecting Roosevelt’s legacy to a message of American greatness ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
The plane has drawn scrutiny over the cost and rapid pace of its renovations, as well as the unusual nature of accepting a luxury jumbo jet from a foreign country. Trump has dismissed criticism of the arrangement. The Air Force has said the aircraft meets presidential standards.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is a 96,000-square-foot facility built into the local landscape and overlooking the national park named for Roosevelt. The park honors the years Roosevelt spent in the nearby Badlands, a period often described as formative in shaping his views on conservation, strength and national purpose.
Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1909, is remembered as a conservationist and expansionist leader whose presidency coincided with the United States’ emergence as a global power. His administration helped push Spain out of the Americas and supported the development of the Panama Canal.
“Theodore Roosevelt believed America’s greatest work was always still ahead,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release. “President Trump shares that conviction in American greatness, and in the belief that this nation’s finest age is yet to come.”
Trump’s North Dakota appearance is part of a week of patriotic events tied to Independence Day.
On Friday, he is expected to visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where Roosevelt is depicted alongside former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Trump is also expected to deliver a campaign-style speech Saturday during a July 4 celebration in Washington. The event is scheduled to include a 35-minute fireworks display over the Potomac River.
The North Dakota trip will mark both the opening of a major presidential library and the public debut of Trump’s new presidential aircraft as the administration promotes a broader Fourth of July theme centered on American history and national strength.