Here’s an interesting aviation angle to President Trump more concretely conceding the presidency…
Donald Trump’s 757 has been in storage
For the past four years, President Trump has been flying Air Force One around the world (though mostly just to Palm Beach — that’s not shade, just the truth). In 46 days, Trump will have to find a new way to get around as a private citizen, so you’d expect that he would use his private plane.
Trump has a Boeing 757-200 that was built in 1991, with the registration code N757AF. Here’s a video of what the plane is like:
The plane has been in storage at Stewart Airport in New York since 2019, and Trump hasn’t been keeping up on the maintenance for the plane, since he expected he wouldn’t need to actually use the plane until 2025 at the earliest.
Trump still hasn’t admitted he lost the presidential election (you know, “stop the count,” “count the votes,” etc.), so could the movement of his 757 really tell us whether he plans on voluntarily leaving Washington come January?
What the movement of Trump’s 757 will tell us
The always knowledgable Jon Ostrower reports on how an aviation angle could tell us if Trump concedes the presidency. According to Ostrower’s source:
- There has been a search for a Rolls-Royce RB211 engine that’s needed for one cycle (one takeoff and landing), which would be enough to get the plane out of Stewart
- The plane would then fly to a maintenance facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the plane would undergo significant maintenance
- The conclusion here is that once Trump’s plane flies to Louisiana for maintenance, it also means he realizes that will be his primary form of transportation starting in January, which also means he realizes he won’t be president anymore
So it’s worth keeping an eye on the movement of N757AF.
Personally I wouldn’t assume with 100% certainty that he’ll get his 757 back into airworthy condition. There are a variety of reasons he might choose not to fly the plane, with factors ranging from finances to where he may choose to relocate post-presidency.
Bottom line
President Trump’s 757 hasn’t been used much in recent years, given that Trump has been flying Air Force One. With Trump’s presidency coming to an end in January, he’ll presumably once again want his 757. It’ll be pretty telling if & when this particular 757 is sent to Louisiana for maintenance…
(Featured image courtesy of Tomás Del Coro)
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