Former President Donald Trump recently explored a Boeing aircraft to examine its advanced hardware and technological enhancements, while also bringing attention to the delays faced by the manufacturer in delivering modernized versions of the Air Force One presidential jet, as stated by the White House on Saturday.

Trump visited a 13-year-old private jet stationed at Palm Beach International Airport.

“President Trump is inspecting a new Boeing plane to assess the latest technology,” noted Steven Cheung, the White House communications director. “This underscores the project’s inability to deliver a new Air Force One on the promised timeline.”

Air Force One is a specially modified Boeing 747.

There are two such planes in operation, and both are over 30 years old, serving as the presidential transport.

Boeing Inc. holds the contract to produce the updated versions; however, production has experienced significant delays, with the company facing billions in losses on the project.

Initial delivery was scheduled for 2024 but has now been postponed to 2027 for the first aircraft and 2028 for the second—coinciding with Trump’s final year in office, as reported by the U.S. Air Force.

Trump has openly criticized the escalating costs and delays associated with the project.

During an online discussion in 2024 with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Musk’s X social media platform, Trump revealed that he managed to negotiate more than $1 billion off the project’s cost by taking a firm stance with Boeing during his first tenure.

“Over approximately four weeks, by expressing my reluctance to proceed, I succeeded in reducing the price by $1.6 billion for essentially the same aircraft—aside from a more appealing paint job, to be completely honest,” Trump explained.

Musk, a billionaire investor who funded Trump’s 2024 campaign, is also leading a new Department of Government Efficiency, aimed at streamlining government operations by cutting expenditures, dismantling agencies, and downsizing the federal workforce. His approaches have drawn criticism.

Boeing’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, indicated last month that Musk is collaborating with the company to expedite the delivery of the new Air Force One planes.

Additionally, Trump has expressed interest in altering Air Force One’s color from its current light blue to a darker shade. An earlier proposal to change the color scheme was halted by then-President Joe Biden after a study determined that alterations would necessitate further testing, resulting in added costs and delays.