Trump Wants New Air Force One in His Presidential Library

Trump (R) on 7/1/2026 achieved His long awaited ambition of Flying on a New Air Force One, Thanks to the Qatari Government. But His Plans for the Aircraft’s Future might prove much more Difficult to get off the ground.

Trump wants the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet to eventually form the Centerpiece of His Planned Presidential Library in Downtown Miami, similar to Ronald Reagan’s Library Complex in California, that also includes a former Air Force One. Trump faces Numerous Obstacles, from Future Presidents who might Need to use the Jet, Democratic Politicians who are Determined to Stop Him, and the Logistical Challenges of Cramming the hulking Jumbo Jet into His Planned Skyscraper in the Middle of a Dense City.

“There is standard protocol for retiring military aircraft—first and foremost there are no more military requirements for it,” said Doug Birkey, Executive Director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Part of the Air and Space Forces Association. Since His First Term, Trump has Demanded a New Air Force One to Travel in, Replacing the Two Aging Airframes. He Ordered Two New Planes from Boeing in 2017, but they are still Undergoing Extensive Military Modification with the First Not Expected to be Delivered until Mid-2028, Months before He leaves Office.

Around the time Trump was Re-Elected in 2024, the Air Force began Searching for existing Planes that could Fly the President and Lessen the Load on the Two Boeing 747-200s that have been doing the Job since 1990. One of the Aircraft on its Radar was a VIP-Configured Boeing 747, Owned by the Qatari Royal Family. A few months later, Trump toured the Plane in Palm Beach, FL. Before taking His First Flight on the Plane 7/1/2026, Trump said He had previously Asked the Qatari Emir if He could use the Plane “for a period of time.” Instead the Emir offered “to make a contribution to the country”, and give the Jet to the U.S. Government. Ownership of the Plane was Transferred to the Air Force in the Spring 2025.

Accepting a Plane Valued at roughly $400 million from a Foreign Government has been Criticized by both Republicans and Democrats, but until the much Delayed Next-Generation Air Force Ones arrive, the Four-Engine Boeing 747-8i is expected to be Trump’s Primary Mode of Air Travel. It has since been Upgraded with about $400 million in Taxpayer-Funded Communications Gear and Other Military Equipment to Ensure the President’s Safety. The Air Force Won’t put a Date on how Long the Plane, which it calls a VC-25B “bridge” Aircraft, will be part of its Fleet, but History shows that even when a New Air Force One starts Flying, its Predecessors tend to Stay in Service for Years, possibly Preventing it from being Available when the Library Opens.

“The mission is going to dictate how long the bridge is going to be around,” Gen. Dale White, the Air Force General who Oversees the Air Force One Program, said in an Interview. “We have mission requirements that we have to move the president of the United States and make sure he’s safe, secure and has mission communications.” Congress could also have its Say. If Democrats take Control of the House or Senate from Republicans in November’s Midterms, some Lawmakers might use the Plane to get under Trump's Skin.

On 6/24/2026, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT, 2nd District), Filed an Amendment to the Fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, that would Block the Qatari Plane from being Transferred to any Individual or Entity. Republican Leadership Blocked the Amendment from receiving a Vote on the House Floor, but Courtney might have better luck, if the House Flips to the Democrats

“Rep. Courtney will continue working to ensure that the VC-25B bridge aircraft, which President Trump described as practically ‘brand new’, Remains the property of the U.S. Government, after substantial taxpayer iInvestment, following the end of Trump’s term in office,” a Spokesman for Courtney said.

Historically, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force determines where Military Aaircraft End Up, after they are Retired. The Museum in Dayton, Ohio, has a Gallery of Former Presidential Aircraft. It Operates a Loan Program that Allows other Museums around the Country to Display Retired Aircraft. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., has had an Air Force One Pavilion since 2005, 16 years after Reagan Left Office and a year after His death. The plane it houses was retired in 2001.

The Air Force Secretary, who is a Political Appointee of the President’s Administration, Ultimately Decides which Museums get Historical Aircraft. That means a Future Democratic Administration could Block the Plane from being Loaned to Trump’s Library. Then there are the Complex Logistics of moving a 250-foot-Long Plane.

Getting the Double-Deck Aircraft into the Building Lobby “is going to be a trick,” Trump said in 3/2026. Putting the Forward Fuselage of a Retired Boeing 747 into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington required Workers to Cut the Plane into Numerous Pieces and then Reassemble it.

Similarly, the Former Air Force One at the Reagan Complex, had its Wings and Vertical Tail Removed, so it could be Trucked from San Bernardino, Calif., to the Library in Simi Valley. The Pavilion was then Built Around the Aircraft, which was then put Back Together.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

UK's Martlet Missile Sent to Ukraine

Britain's Light Weight Martlet Missile, Racked Up over 100 Shahed Drone Kills in Middle East Combat.

Now 6,000 of them are Heading to Ukraine.

The Belfast-Built Interceptor, Fills a Critical Gap in Layered Drone Defense, that Patriot, and Guns alone, can't Cover.

The Weapon is Guided using a Laser Beam System, and have a Variety of Additional Seekers, including Semi-Active Laser, Terminal Infrared, and GPS/INS Systems.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Putin's Yacht Heads to Arctic

The £100 Million Superyacht Graceful, which has been Linked to Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, has begun leaving Europe, due to the Threat of Ukrainian Drone Attacks. According to Maritime Intelligence and Satellite Imagery, the 82-meter Vessel is Sailing along Norway's Coastline and is Expected to Arrive at the Russian Port of Murmansk, in the Arctic, in the coming Days.

The Yacht is covered with Anti-Drone Netting, and is being Escorted by two Russian Navy Vessels. It is being Aaccompanied by the Udaloy Class Destroyer Severomorsk and the Russian Rescue Patrol Ship Voevoda, which has a Displacement of 7,500 tons. According to a Senior NATO Source, the Convoy is being Monitored by the Alliance, while German and Danish Naval Patrol Ships Escorted the Vvessels as they Sailed through the Baltic Sea.

According to U.S. Government Documents, Putin made Numerous Trips Aboard the Yacht, including a Voyage across the Black Sea, with Belarusian Leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2021. The Vessel is Equipped with Seawater and Freshwater Swimming Pools, a Helipad, a Gym, and Secure Communications Systems for Government Use.

Seventeen days before Russia Launched its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, the Yacht was Transferred from the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, to Russia's Kaliningrad. Four Months later, the U.S., U.S. Sanctioned the Vessel, forcing the Yacht to Change its Name to Kosatka, the Vessel had Remained Hidden until Last Week and Reappeared in Public for the First Time in Four years.

Its Automatic Identification System Transmitted Information about its Passage through the Danish Straits, before the Signal Disappeared, as it entered the North Sea on Monday. Meanwhile, the Escort Vessel Voevoda, continued Transmitting its Location, whileHheadingNnorth past the Norwegian Coast. The Convoy is Sailing past the Northern City of Tromsø before Finally Docking in Murmansk.

The Media Notes that just a Week ago, Ukrainian Drones Struck the Strategically Important Russian Naval Base at Kronstadt on Kotlin Island, about 19 kilometers East of St. Petersburg. The Attack in the Gulf of Finland, Hit One of Moscow's few Modern Warships, the Boykiy, Clearly Demonstrating the Vulnerability of Russia's Fleet far from the Front Line in Ukraine.

According to Satellite Imagery, the Naval Base at Kronstadt, Appeared Unusually Empty after the Ukrainian Strikes. Just a year earlier, in Images from J6/2025, there were at least Nine more Vessels at the Base than in Images taken this 7/4/2026. In 11/2025, a Similar Attack Targeted the Frigates Gepard, Tatarstan, and Dagestan, which Belong to the Kremlin. Small Missile Ships in the Caspian Sea, nearly 1,000 miles from Ukraine, were also Attacked.

"With the realisation that Russia’s air defence was unable to prevent recent strikes, Putin is moving his prized assets out of the Baltic and back home to safety," the Media concluded. In 2023, the Dossier Center published an Investigation, Claiming that the Fleet Linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin could Include up to 10 Yachts and Support Vessels.

The Report also said that Two Aadditional Vessels had been Identified: the Megayacht Victoria and the Boat Orion.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Poland Sent the Rosomak to Ukraine

Poland’s Rosomak, a Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (Wolverine), is a Family of Eight-Wheeled Armored Fighting Vehicles, derived from the Finnish Patria AMV. It is Produced by Rosomak S.A., a Polish Armaments Group Company.



It has become One of Ukraine’s most Useful Armored Vehicles, Combining Speed, Troop Ccapacity, and a Powerful Bushmaster Cannon.

Ukrainian Crews explain how they Trained on the Vehicle, used it in Night Ambushes, Covered Infantry Withdrawals, Crossed Dangerous Terrain, and Survived Repeated Drone Attacks, while Keeping Crews Alive and Returning Damaged Vehicles to Battle.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Putin Admitting War is Lost

Putin has made a Rare Admission that Reveals, far more than He Intended. As Ukraine's Long Rrange Strikes, Disrupt Russia's Fuel Infrastructure and Expose Growing Weaknesses, the Kremlin is Struggling to Control the Narrative.

Is This a Sign that Putin knows the Tide has turned? Lets Examine His Latest Remarks, Russia's mounting Ddomestic Challenges, and why this could Mark a Pivotal Moment in the War.

Modern Battlefields are Saturated with Drones, Satellites, and Precision-Guided Weapons, making Deception more Important than Ever.

Russia has Deployed Inflatable Vehicles, Heated Mannequins, Fake Fuel Depots, and other Decoys, Designed to Attract Enemy Attention and Waste Valuable Munitions.

While some Appear Surprisingly Simple, these Fake Targets can Influence Battlefield Decisions, Conceal Real Positions, and even Help Set-Up Ambushes.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Ukrainian Drones Hit St Petersburg Oil Terminal

A Ukrainian drone attack struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Russian officials said, as Kyiv presses on with bombardment of Russia’s oil infrastructure. Almost daily long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities have created a fuel crisis and heaped political pressure on the Kremlin as its all-out invasion of Ukraine stretches into its fifth year.

Gov. Alexander Beglov said the city’s Kirovsky district on the Baltic Sea was hit. He also said that air defenses shot down 72 Ukrainian drones across Russia's second-largest city and the surrounding region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia. He said that Ukrainian forces also hit a military target on the island of Kronstadt, just off the coast of St. Petersburg.

“The Ukrainian defense forces hit the port oil infrastructure, which earns money for the Russian war, and there were also hits on Kronstadt — an important military target,” he said in a post on Telegram. St. Petersburg’s Kirovsky district was previously hit in June, ahead of Russia’s flagship St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, has suffered particularly from heavy strikes, causing local authorities to suspend gasoline sales to civilians. A Ukrainian attack on Saturday killed one person and injured two more, including a 10-year-old child, the Moscow-installed Gov. Sergei Aksyonov said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shrugged off Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s energy facilities as “not critical,” and insisted the war will continue until his goals are met. He has described the attacks on Russian energy as an effort by Ukraine to distract attention from its losses on the battlefield, although analysts say the advance of Russian forces has been stymied in recent months.

On Friday, Putin visited the Russian military headquarters directing the war in Ukraine and received a report on the capture of the city of Kostyantynivka, after weeks of intense street battles. He hailed it as a key step toward capturing the nearby cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the key remaining strongholds in the so-called “forest belt” of heavily fortified cities in the Donetsk region that remain in Ukraine’s hands.

The capture of Kostyantynivka, a big transport and industrial hub, is of “major strategic importance,” Putin, clad in military fatigues, said in televised comments. In a briefing Saturday, Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, said that Ukrainian troops had been pushed back several kilometers (miles) and that fighting was taking place on the outskirts of the nearby town of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka.

“The city is now under our full control. Units of the Southern Army Group are completing the clearance of city blocks, rooting out small groups and individual Ukrainian fighters who may still be hiding in basements and ruins,” he said. Zelenskyy denied that Russia took control of the city. “It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story,” he wrote on social media Saturday. “If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war. But the fact is, he won’t cross the front line — reality is very different from Putin’s words.”

Zelenskyy's post also seemed to appeal to Trump (R). “Now, on the eve of America’s Independence Day, Putin has chosen to lie to the world and to Trump about the situation on the front.” Putin appears to believe his government can keep the fuel crisis from eroding his authority and support for the war he launched more than four years ago. At the very least, the attacks have brought the war home even more poignantly for millions of Russians, shattering Putin’s narrative of the conflict as something that doesn’t affect the lives of ordinary people in his country.

The border city of Belgorod, which Ukrainian drone strikes have also repeatedly targeted, was left almost completely without power on 7/4/2026 due to overnight attacks, local media reported.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Russia’s Advance Collapses in Ukraine

Russia’s armed forces are aiming to capture the remaining 20 percent of Ukraine’s partially occupied eastern Donetsk region by the end of the year, having, ccording to Kyiv, Failed to meet 14 Previous Deadlines. At Russia’s current Rate of Advance, President Vladimir Putin’s forces will need 5,150 days, or 14 years, to complete the task – in addition to the 12 years Russian-aligned forces have already been fighting to seize Donetsk from Kyiv’s control.

The Institute for the Study of War says that’s because Russian territorial gains have collapsed this year even as casualties have risen, according to the Washington-based think tank, which uses geolocated, open-source information to estimate territorial control. Russian forces seized 2,190 square kilometres (845 square miles) of Ukraine in the first six months of 2025, compared with 622 sq km (240 sq miles) so far this year, the ISW said.

That translates to a rate of advance of 1.03 sq km (0.39 sq miles) a day this year versus 16.6 sq km (6.4 sq miles) a day in the first six months of 2025. Those figures worsen dramatically if Russian infiltrations, which do not amount to firm control of territory, are removed from the equation and Ukrainian counter-advances are included. In that case, Russia’s net gain in the first half of 2026 is just 97 sq km (37 sq miles), according to ISW figures.

“If Putin wants to send another million of his soldiers to keep fighting against this wall, then these million Russians, who have not yet been mobilised into the Russian army and are queuing for gasoline, should think about what awaits them next,” said Ukraine’s president. Volodymyr Zelenskyy was referring to the 1.4 million Russian casualties since the war began, estimated by the Center for Strategic International Studies on July 1. Ukraine’s military estimated that Russia suffered another 39,490 casualties in June alone, far outstripping its estimated recruitment capacity this year of 24,000-30,000 a month.

That means Russia’s casualties have risen to catastrophic levels of 1,298 per square kilometre taken in June, compared to 68 casualties per sq km in June 2025, said the ISW. Zelenskyy has attributed Ukraine’s success this year to “a series of decisions” made last year to increase drone production and develop domestic long-range missiles. Ukraine has used those resources to disrupt supplies of fuel and ammunition to Russian frontlines – a strategy its Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called “Logistical Lockdown”.

On June 25 , Zelenskyy announced a 40-day campaign of mid and long-range strikes “against the aggressor state aimed at compelling it to end the war”. Mid-range strikes have targeted Russian logistics, including warehouses, resupply convoys and bridges. Those attacks increased from 210 in May to 303 in June, assessed the ISW. Over a period of just two days, July 1-2 , Ukraine destroyed 12 electricity substations in southern Crimea, as part of its ongoing campaign to make the peninsula unusable for military operations.

The commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert ‘Magyar’ Brovdi, said his forces struck a Russian target on or behind the frontlines every 52 seconds in June. “50,147 military targets were destroyed/damaged,” he wrote on his Telegram messaging channel. Zelenskyy said those short and mid-range capabilities will increase further this month as battalions “will receive additional resources”, he said. Almost a year ago, during Putin’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska, they reportedly agreed to force Ukraine to hand over Donetsk.

Zelenskyy flatly refused when presented with the proposal. In the intervening year, the military situation has changed dramatically, with Russia now on the back foot. Russian officials appeared to advertise their readiness for another US mediation based on what was discussed in Anchorage.

“US proposals were discussed and accepted by the Russian side in Alaska,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Kremlin newswire TASS on June 26. “We would welcome [US mediation], we remain open to these services and to the process of peaceful settlement itself,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on the same day. At the same time, Russia has signalled its opposition to direct Ukrainian proposals, ostensibly believing it will have a more sympathetic interlocutor in Trump.

In responses to Vesti reporter Pavel Zarubin, Putin revealed he had turned down two separate proposals from Kyiv, one for a ceasefire on long-range strikes and another for a ceasefire in the northern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, as well as the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk, allowing the war to continue along its main fronts – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.

“It’s clear why this proposal is being made,” Putin said. “Because our retaliatory strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are far more powerful, devastating, and – to put it bluntly – destructive, leading to truly serious consequences for the (Kyiv) regime.” Ukraine’s long-range strikes during the past week succeeded in damaging Russia’s Ufa, Nizhegorodsky, Slavyansk and Yaroslavl oil refineries, the Volga and Vyatka cable-laying ships under construction in the Kerch Strait, the Beloomut, Minyayevo and Dubna satellite communications centres near Moscow, the Titan-Barrikady ammunition manufacturer in Volgograd, the Saky military airfield in Crimea and a research institute manufacturing aircraft and missile parts in the Penza region.

Putin has put a brave face as the military flags and public sentiment sours, saying Russia is “standing firm” As for the economy, Russia relies on oil exports for a quarter of its budget revenues, according to recent analysis, but market analysts say those oil exports have been decreasing. From January to May, oil revenues fell by 30 percent compared to the same period last year, said Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladyslav Vlasyuk.

That’s despite the temporary US waiver of sanctions on Russian oil during the Gulf war that began on February 28 . The waiver expired on June 17. Ukraine attributes the fall in exports to its systematic strikes on Russian oil terminals and pumping stations, which have made the loading of tankers dangerous and difficult As Ukraine struck Russian refineries, Russia has sought to export more of its crude oil and to import refined petroleum products to keep its economy afloat.

Fuel shortages were reported in most Russian regions in June, with videos of Russians arguing over who gets to refuel their car being posted on the internet. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak attempted to reassure Russians on June 26 , saying “we have sufficient fuel on the market” and that demand had been artificially boosted by 20-30 percent due to “quite a lot of hype”. Novak said the “system’s logistics links are currently being restructured” and “rebalancing the market will take some time”.

Putin, too, attempted to gloss over the supply problems, saying that Russia had reserves of 1.7 million tonnes of gasoline, which he said was “down a mere four percent from the same period last year”. Russia has banned the export of diesel, heavily used by the armed forces and Putin extended the ban on June 26 . Industry sources told Reuters that Russia imported 60,000 tonnes of refined petroleum products from India and intended to import 400,000 tonnes a month from various countries.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker