The debut of President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One quickly took an unexpected turn after a background detail in a photo shared by Karoline Leavitt left social media users mocking the president instead of admiring the aircraft.
Despite being on maternity leave after welcoming her second child, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, joined President Donald Trump aboard the new Air Force One for its inaugural trip to North Dakota.
The $400 million Boeing jet, gifted to the U.S. government by Qatar, is filling the gap while Boeing finishes two delayed Air Force One replacements ordered in 2018 for $3.9 billion.
But excitement over the aircraft has been tempered by criticism, with opponents raising ethical questions, warning of potential security risks and criticizing an agreement that allows Trump to keep the plane through his presidential library foundation after leaving office.
The 80-year-old president has defended accepting the aircraft, brushing aside the criticism surrounding the arrangement the Associated Press reports.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump said in May 2025 about his present from a country in the Middle East. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
Insisting he has no intention of using it after his presidency ends, he added: “It would go directly to the library after I leave office. I wouldn’t be using it,” Trump claimed.”
Inaugural flight
Speaking with reporters before boarding on July 1, Trump said he was especially excited to take the aircraft on its inaugural presidential flight.
“We’re going to the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library opening, and that’ll be very good. That’ll be a lot of fun,” he told reporters, according to People.
“But I think you know, to be honest with you, I’m excited about the first flight. It’s something nobody has ever seen anything like this.”
He also praised the aircraft’s upgrades, saying: “They just completed it. They made it appropriate for a president, that means the security and all of the different bells and whistles they put on. Very complex now, but it’s really quite something.”
Calling it “maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built,” Trump added, “I said to Boeing, ‘What’s the best one?’ They said, ‘This is the best plane ever built,’ and you’re gonna have the privilege of flying it, and I have the privilege also of flying it.”
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., along with his new wife, Bettina Anderson, joined Leavitt and the president on the plane’s maiden voyage to North Dakota for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Unusual ‘library’
Once airborne, Leavitt shared several behind-the-scenes photos from inside the aircraft on X.
“What a privilege to be aboard the inaugural flight on the brand new Air Force One!” Leavitt shared, alongside several images documenting the day. “A truly unforgettable day,”
One image, however, drew far more attention than the rest.
In the photo, Leavitt is seated inside the aircraft in front of a television displaying the presidential seal that’s framed by a neatly arranged bookshelf filled with hardcover books behind her.
Several of the visible spines appeared to feature generic titles, including “Antiques,” “Art,” “Jewelry,” and “Library.”
‘Illiterate boss’
Before long, the bookshelf – not the airplane – had become the focus of the conversation.
“What’s up with the fake bookshelf in the background?” one user wrote in the comment section of Leavitt’s post.
Another took aim at the president, posting, “Look at all those books behind you that your illiterate boss hasn’t read…”
A third shared, “Why are there books there? Trump and his Administration are illiterate.”
“Of course, a plane full of people who have never read a book has a bookshelf of fake books with titles like ‘Library,’” another added, alongside a closeup of the books, that some suggested was “wallpaper.”
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