Air Force one is getting a new red, white, blue and gold paint job
A new color scheme will be applied to all presidential planes, as well as other planes used by senior government officials.
President Donald Trump will soon be flying in jets with distinctive new exterior color schemes of red, white, dark blue and gold, a change from the white and two-tone blue livery dating back to the Kennedy administration, the U.S. Air Force announced on Feb. 17.
Trump sought a redesign in his first term in office in 2018, when he said he wanted more patriotic red, white and blue colors instead of the “baby blue” on presidential jets.
His color choices were scrapped in 2020 after the Air Force determined the darker colors could cause overheating.
The Air Force has already started repainting some of the aircraft designated as presidential jets.
What will the new Air Force One look like?
Can’t see our graphics? Click here to reload the page.
What jets are used for presidential travel?
The Air Force will apply the new paint scheme to these jets:
- One VC-25B, the military designation for the Boeing 747-8i aircraft that will serve as Air Force One.
- Two Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which are specialized jets with advanced communications and defense systems, will serve as the next generation of presidential air transport. Delivery is expected in 2028.
- A Boeing 747, donated by the Qatari government in 2025, will be used as an interim Air Force One. L3Harris Technologies, a defense contractor, is overhauling and upgrading it.
- Four modified Boeing C-32s (a military transport version of the 757-200) are used for the vice president, cabinet members, members of Congress and other senior government officials.
The 757-200 aircraft will receive their new livery during regularly scheduled maintenance. One of the jets has already been repainted and should be delivered in the coming months, the Air Force said.
The Air Force One program has faced delays and cost overruns since Boeing agreed to a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract in 2018 to deliver two modified 747-8s to replace the current fleet, Reuters reported.
The cost for Boeing’s effort to build the two new jets is over $5 billion. The current Air Force One airplanes entered service in 1990.
Joey Garrison contributed to this report.
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Boeing; U.S. Air Force
link