Trump debuts new Air Force One on trip to Theodore Roosevelt museum

MEDORA: President Donald Trump is traveling to North Dakota on Wednesday to dedicate a museum honoring Theodore Roosevelt, invoking the Republican president’s legacy as he promotes a message of American greatness ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

The visit comes as Trump has embraced celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, using them to highlight his leadership and vision for the country ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The trip to Medora in western North Dakota also marks the debut of a refurbished Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar that will serve as Air Force One, featuring a red, white, dark blue and gold paint scheme selected by Trump.

The plane has drawn scrutiny due to the cost and rapid pace of renovations, as well as the unusual acceptance of a luxury jumbo jet from a foreign country.

Trump has dismissed criticism of the arrangement, and the Air Force has said the plane is up to presidential standards.

Before boarding the inaugural flight on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Qatar “treated us very well” and that the Qatari leader contributing the plane was “very nice”.

Asked about the cost to taxpayers, Trump said the gifted plane cost “very little relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way.”

“We’re very proud of this, the country is very proud of it,” Trump said, adding the older Air Force One “didn’t look appropriate for our country”.

“They made it appropriate for a president, that means the security and all of the different bells and whistles they put on, very complex stuff,” Trump said.

Trump’s emphasis on patriotic events marking the country’s “semiquincentennial” comes as Americans remain sharply divided over the Republican president, the country’s dominant political figure for a decade.

The celebrations have been central to his messaging in an election year dominated by voter concern over the cost of living and Iran war.

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opens in North Dakota on Saturday.

Carved out of local soil, the 8,919sq m facility overlooks a national park named for Roosevelt because of the formative years he spent in the nearby Badlands.

Trump has praised Roosevelt, a rugged conservationist who served as president from 1901 to 1909.

He expanded the nation’s reach, helping to push Spain out of the Americas and claiming the Panama Canal.

During his tenure, the US was emerging as the global power it remains.

“Theodore Roosevelt believed America’s greatest work was always still ahead,” said interior secretary ​Doug Burgum in a press release.

“President Trump shares that conviction in American greatness, and in the belief that this nation’s finest age is yet to come,” Burgum said.

As part of his week of events, Trump plans on Friday to visit Mount Rushmore, the mountain sculpture in South Dakota of Roosevelt and former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

He’s also expected to deliver a campaign-style speech on Saturday as part of a July 4 celebration in Washington that will include a 35-minute fireworks display over the Potomac River.