News Story: White House defends new Air Force One deal after Trump's attack on expense

Air Force One (Image: Wiki Commons)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The White House defended the deal of new Air Force One aircrafts with Boeing company, after President-elect Donald Trump called for cancelling the order claiming the new aircraft too expensive in a Twitter post earlier on Tuesday.

"I think the American people would expect that future presidents would benefit from unique and upgraded capabilities while flying aboard Air Force One," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on board the presidential plane flying to Tampa, Florida.

However, it's up to the Trump administration to determine whether the project will be completed, said Earnest.

"The updated Air Force One is not set to come online until 2023," he said. "This is a longer-range plan, but ultimately the planning work that we have done on behalf of future presidents is something the next administration will have to decide to carry forward." he said.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump tweeted.

"We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money," he then told reporters in a briefing.

However, the 4-billion-dollar price tag Trump claimed for the cost of the new aircraft couldn't be immediately confirmed.

Read the full story at Xinhua