Live updates: Trump administration news

President Donald Trump appeared to indicate that a luxury Boeing 747 airplane the administration accepted from Qatar is in the process of being retrofitted by the US military.

Asked when the plane would become a new Air Force One, Trump said efforts to transform it were already underway.

“Well, it’s here already. It’s in the country. It’s being refitted for military standard,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump started touting the plane while heralding deals he made while on his trip to the Middle East earlier this month.

“By the way – got a beautiful, big, magnificent, free airplane for the United States Air Force. Okay? Very proud of that, too,” the president said.

He continued, “They tried to say, ‘Oh, it’s Trump’s airplane.’ Oh, yeah, sure, it’s too big. It’s, frankly, it’s too big, much too big.”

Trump has repeatedly cast the plane as a possible replacement for Air Force One, sparking controversy over ethical and security concerns, as well as legal questions about the details of the transaction.

Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accepted the plane from Qatar, and a Defense Department spokesperson said it would be fitted with “proper security measures and functional-mission requirements.”

Pressed Wednesday on how much it would cost to prepare the plane for presidential transport, Trump replied: “Oh, I don’t know, whatever it is, a lot – hell of a lot less than building a new one. We’re waiting too long from Boeing. Boeing has got to get its act together.”