We save pennies to survive, Trump spends our tax dollars on a $400 million flying monstrosity

Donald Trump has always wanted to be a king. In fact, he thinks he is one. As proof, he’s already remade the Oval Office into a gold-trimmed royal fantasy. He has claimed “total authority” over the states, among other power-hungry proclamations.

He’s also using his presidency to enrich himself through foreign real estate deals, shady crypto schemes, and now a new gilded jet so lavish it makes Air Force One look like coach on Spirit Airlines.

At a time when economists are waving red flags about a looming recession, families are preparing for skyrocketing prices, and store shelves may be barren at Christmas thanks to a 145 percent tariff tsunami on China, Trump is having the federal government buy him the most expensive, opulent private aircraft in the world, a plane owned by the bastion of democracy (joke) and grotesque wealth Qatar.

Why? Because he’s tired of waiting for the official Air Force One upgrades. Because his royal patience ran out. Because ruling-class tantrums must be soothed with gold-plated extravagance.

The new jet, a converted Qatar Airways Boeing 747-8i, was once billed as a “flying palace” for global royalty. It boasts a bedroom suite, lounges, boardrooms, marble-clad bathrooms, and a grand staircase. It's now being retrofitted by U.S. defense contractor L3Harris, under Trump’s watchful eye, to become his personal command center.

Never mind that taxpayers are footing the bill. Never mind that Americans are bracing for tariffs that could jack up the price of toys, clothes, electronics, and food looking ahead to the holidays. In “let them eat cake” moments, Trump said in the span of a week that this holiday season kids will “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls” and “They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”

But for Trump, he doesn’t need one jumbo jet, he needs two.

The likelihood of a recession has spiked dramatically. Analysts say the effects will hit wallets hard: tariffs will inflate costs for everything from consumer goods to manufacturing inputs, slashing family budgets and thinning out already fragile supply chains.

An executive at America’s largest port told Newsweekshoppers will “start to notice the difference by fall.” An Apollo economist warned of “empty shelves” and layoffs soon. And yet, while the rest of us will be choosing between scarce dolls or scant pencils to buy, Trump will be flying overhead in a palace with gold-plated seatbelt buckles.

It would be one thing if this jet-switch was necessary. It’s not. Trump’s just mad. Earlier this year, he grew angry because the new generation of Air Force One, originally commissioned during his first term, has taken too long to complete.

In a column I wrote at the time, I documented his fury with the delay of the iconic blue-and-white presidential jet. Now, he’s steamrolling the procurement process and stuffing taxpayers with the bill for a plane that was literally designed for an oil-rich monarchy.

Trump is using the presidency as a personal gold mine. Just a few months ago, he launched a Trump-branded cryptocurrency that has increased estimates of the Trump family fortune to $2.9 billion.

He’s hawking digital coins while also pushing for favorable crypto regulations, essentially writing laws to boost his own portfolio.Fast Company has documented how Trump's presidency has already made him hundreds of millions through self-dealing contracts and foreign investments.

And now he wants us to believe that the flying Taj Mahal is just some simple practical decision. Hardly!

This is precisely how oligarchies function. While the people tighten their belts (and eat cake), the ruler buys a bigger throne. And make no mistake, Trump sees himself not as a president but as a ruler.

A gilded jet is a symbol of who he thinks he is. The tariffs are his vengeance on a world he believes has wronged him. The crypto coin is his way to print personal money. It’s not a policy. It’s a plunder.

The cost of this Qatar jet, never mind the conversion expenses, is estimated to exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the Defense Department just announced an astonishing $5.1 billion in cuts this week.

Trump may be wielding Elon Musk’s chain saw, rhetorically, against government programs, but when it comes to his own luxuries, he prefers the golden scalpel.

I've lived in New York City for over 30 years, and it was no secret that Trump did everything to excess, flaunting his wealth, with his branded helicopter and gold-plated airplane, his multistory, over-the-top golden condominium atop Trump Tower. And when he leaves office, my bet is that he replaces his "Trump" plane with the temporary Qatar plane.

Here's how! When the new Air Force One is ready, conveniently when Trump's term ends (that is, if he steps aside), what will the government do with the palatial Qatar jet? Simple. It will arrange a sweetheart deal so that Trump can "buy it" and take it with him when he leaves. Just wait. it will happen.

I used to think Americans were not fools, and I used to think that they really cared. That they knew when they were being fleeced. That somehow, some way, someday, they’d catch on that “America First” really meant “Trump First.”

And now, as prices rise and store shelves shrink, I’m wondering if they will look to the sky and see a gleaming, gilded jet slicing through the clouds,and recognize it for what it truly is, a jumbo middle finger given directly to them from their Dear Leader.

Because, metaphorically, that’s what it is all about. And that is Trump thinking he’s exalted above the petty bourgeoisie below, who eat cake and hold on tight to their precious

three dolls and five pencils.

Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.