Trump’s Plane Grounded After Emergency Landing—Now He’s Flying Jeffrey Epstein’s Jet
After former President Trump lost the 2020 election, he no longer had access to Air Force One and his private Boeing 757 was left in disrepair. At the time I wrote that if you wanted to know when he was ready to run again, just watch his private private plane which has gold-plated everything down to the seat belts.
When he announced his candidacy for President seven years ago, he claimed to be worth $10 billion (though self-reported election filings suggested wealth one-eighth that). Yet he asked his small donors to pay for repairs on the plane, registration N757AF, which had been stored at Newburgh-Stewart airport in New York.
The Trump 757, once owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, made an emergency landing last week, diverting while the candidate was enroute to a fundraiser. The campaign now continues on a Gulfstream G550.
Former President Donald Trump landing in a Gulfstream G550 in Aspen for a campaign fundraiser event! Interestingly they put Trump 2024 on the left side. More shots to come.#trump #trump2024 #aspen #colorado #news #president @AspenDailyNews pic.twitter.com/5nZni6VS0k
— Watts Brooks (@WattsBrooks1) August 10, 2024
This was Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane.
.@theaircurrent can confirm reports that the @GulfstreamAero G550 that former President Trump has been using to travel for campaign events was formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein. The aircraft is now owned and operated by Threshold Aviation Group.
— Will Guisbond (@willguisbond) August 11, 2024
That’s Jeffery Epsteins old plane – the one he was arrested on when he stepped off of at Teterboro – only to later die in jail. Gulfstream G550 serial 5173 ex N212JE of Jeffery Epstein – still in his Blue Livery .. now N550GP
— bizjets101 (@bizjets101) August 11, 2024
The 16-passeger, 2008 model aircraft, was acquired by Epstein in 2013 and was used primarily to fly between Palm Beach, Manhattan, Paris and the US Virgin Islands. Here are redacted customs records for the aircraft. While it was the aircraft used by Epstein prior to his final arrest and death, it was not the ‘Lolita Express’ which was an older Boeing 727.
While an aircraft that was sold during the pandemic, and available for charter, it seems like a great failure of vetting by the Trump campaign not just because of Epstein’s history (and the nefarious uses of the aircraft itself) but because of Trump’s own past association with Epstein – associations which, to be clear, were notoriously bipartisan.
On the other hand, the continued market for use of the aircraft meant that it could be sold – creating proceeds which could ultimately be available to Epstein’s victims. In some sense maybe the Trump campaign is helping to fund Epstein’s restitution?