It appears published reports of former President Donald Trump’s luxury 757 jet’s demise have been, as Mark Twain would have said, ''premature.''
The former president announced Friday that his 757 jumbo jet, presently stored in an upstate New York airport, will soon be on its way to a major refit and upgrade, making it ready for planned future rallies.
''Many people have asked about the beautiful Boeing 757 that became so iconic during the Trump rallies,'' Trump’s statement Friday said. ''It was effectively kept in storage in Upstate New York in that I was not allowed to use it during my presidency. It is now being fully restored and updated and will be put back into service sometime prior to the end of the year.
"It will soon be brought to a Louisiana service facility for the completion of work, inspection and updating of Rolls-Royce engines, and a brand-new paint job. When completed, it will be better than ever, and again used at upcoming rallies!''
For the last two years, several media outlets have lamented the fate of ''Trump Force One'' due to the location and apparent shape of the aircraft.
A piece by CNN in March calling the plane ''the crown jewel of his wealth,'' implied that the cost for its rehab ''could reach well into the high six-figures, a price-tag Trump doesn't appear to be dealing with right now.''
According to the local newspaper, the Times Herald-Record in Orange County, New York, the $100 million plane was moved from a hanger in LaGuardia, where it landed during the 2016 presidential campaign, to Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, about 60 miles north of Manhattan, in April 2019.
News accounts noted that the plane was lacking one of its two Rolls-Royce engines and mentioned that the climate in the region may not bode well for storing the aircraft.
A Forbes article speculated that Trump could either donate the plane to his eventual presidential library to take tax credit, or possibly use it as a tourist attraction in Las Vegas where people could walk through the aircraft.
Trump bought the plane from the late Microsoft executive Paul Allen in 2010 and used it extensively for his first presidential campaign, using it as a backdrop for several rallies.