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Trump Claims 747-800 Upgrade in Month, Experts Disagree

7/21/2026

22 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump said the 747-800 will be “maxed out” within a month.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the jet is “perfectly safe” and that upgrades will take a month.
The jet was cleared for a Turkey flight this month but the clearance was later called a mistake.
Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said a one-month schedule is unrealistic because a similar retrofit took over a year.

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Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump said the 747-800 will be “maxed out” within a month.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the jet is “perfectly safe” and that upgrades will take a month.
The jet was cleared for a Turkey flight this month but the clearance was later called a mistake.
Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said a one-month schedule is unrealistic because a similar retrofit took over a year.