Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly refused to disclose the cost of the Air Force’s contract to acquire and retrofit a Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar, sparking sharp criticism from lawmakers demanding transparency during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
During a tense exchange in the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) grilled Hegseth on the opaque arrangements surrounding the acceptance of a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family. Reed zeroed in on the secrecy of the deal, demanding a straightforward answer on the contract’s price.
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“That cannot be revealed in this setting,” Hegseth replied.
Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushed back sharply, saying, “Why can’t it be revealed? This is the Appropriations Committee of the United States Senate. We appropriate the funds you will spend after authorization by this committee, yet you refuse to disclose the cost.”
Hegseth reiterated that the memorandum of understanding had yet to be signed and that information could be disclosed to senators in a private setting. He also said a contract with an American company to retrofit the 747 had yet to be executed.
Reed: You have signed a contract with a company to reconfigure the Qatari aircraft. What is the price of that contract?
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 11, 2025
Hegseth: That cannot be revealed in this setting.
Reed: Why? This is the appropriation committee of the United States senate. We appropriate the money that… pic.twitter.com/RulUdG6f82
Reed challenged Hegseth over his refusal to disclose the delivery timeline for the Qatari 747 aircraft, pressing him on why such information was being withheld when comparable details about Boeing’s Air Force One timeline are publicly available.
Hegseth argued that the delivery schedule was too sensitive to share, but Reed rejected that explanation, accusing the administration of unnecessary secrecy and calling the deal “a bad deal for the public” and “just gratifying the presidency.”
In a separate exchange, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) questioned Hegseth about the origins of the Qatari 747 aircraft deal, pressing him on whether the Department of Defense initiated the conversation with Qatar.
Hegseth said he would need to review the specifics but noted the Defense Department had been part of discussions and expected to receive the aircraft as a gift once a memorandum of understanding was signed.
Schatz expressed concern that the arrangement may be illegal and unconstitutional and called for full transparency.
“I actually think, from the standpoint of our collective responsibilities, it very much matters what the paper flow was, who started these conversations that come out of the White House, that have come out of secretary of state or the president, or the [secretary of defense] or at a lower level or ambassadors — we are entitled to know,” Schatz said, closing his questioning with a request for documentation.
Equipping the Qatari aircraft with the same advanced features found on the aging 747s currently serving as Air Force One would likely subject the project to the same troubles that have dogged Boeing’s replacement program, including significant delays and ballooning expenses.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers last week that the anticipated cost for those security upgrades would be under $400 million, though he offered no specifics on what that figure includes.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) questioned the rationale for accepting a Qatari aircraft and investing heavily in retrofitting it, given that the new Air Force One jets are now expected to be ready by 2027, in time for President Donald Trump to use them.
“It doesn’t stand to reason that you will be able to retrofit the plane from Qatar much sooner than 2028,” Murphy said. “If this contract ends up being half a billion dollars and the gap only ends up being six months, that doesn’t sound like a wise investment for this committee to make.”
The Connecticut senator also expressed concern over reports that Trump plans to transfer the retrofitted Qatari plane to his presidential library after his term.
“The president said on May 12 that this plane would be transferred to his presidential library at the end of his term. Is that your understanding of what is going to happen to this plane?” Murphy asked.
Hegseth confirmed, “The president said that, that’s my understanding,” but he noted that the final decision would be laid out in the yet-to-be-signed memorandum of understanding with Qatar.
“Why would we ask the American taxpayer to spend upwards of a billion dollars on a plane that would then only be used for a handful of months and then transferred directly to the president?” Murphy pressed again.
WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO CONVERT A JET FROM QATAR INTO AIR FORCE ONE TO SAFELY FLY TRUMP
Hegseth defended the idea in vague terms, stating, “A lot of the capabilities, as you know, senator, of that particular platform are and should remain classified. So there are reasons why you might modify, even for a short period of time, an aircraft to ensure the safety and security of the president of the United States.”
But Murphy wasn’t satisfied. “When do you believe that those upgrades would be made? How long would the president have it before it got transferred to his personal possession?” he asked.
Hegseth said the Air Force would determine the timeline.
Calling the arrangement “extraordinary,” Murphy concluded that “we’re talking about a pretty massive investment of appropriations dollars into a plane that the secretary is saying is currently planned to be transferred personally to the president. There’s a lot of other pending needs that we need to fund. This would seem to be low on the list.”