In response to the claim that the jet would go to the Trump Presidential library after Trump leaves office, someone above remarked that “when he leaves office” might be undefined for TRump, who doesn’t like to give up anything.
So maybe, in the spirit of “If we give you a Going-Away Present, will you go away?”, maybe we ought to let them gift it to his library, on condition that it not be re-assigned until he does leave.
My understanding is that it’s not really either one. English speakers really want to accent one of the syllables: so either “CUT-ter” or “kah-TAAR”, but it doesn’t really work that way in Arabic. I think it’s closer to the “CUT-ter” but with each syllable having the same stress - so “cut-ter”. But the first consonant is more like a hard ‘g’ (well, partway between ‘k’ and ‘g’) and the final ‘r’ should be short and have a roll.
So yeah… it’s complicated and difficult. IPA is something like: ɡɪtˤɑr. The transliteration CNN used in their explainer is ghu-terh which looks about right to me.
Thanks!
Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington, I presume.
Are you accusing me of working with sweathogs?
It’s not between K & G; it’s like K but further back in the throat. (Say P, T, K, and then go one more stop in that direction for Q).
Like huckering a loogie?
No matter, it starts with Q, of which they’re strongly anon
Not even close. You’re thinking of a fricative sound (ach, it’s Bach!), but this is a stop, just like P, T, and K, only pronounced a little further back.
It’s okay…I got a note.
“Signed, Superdude’s mother”
Now he’s got a $200 billion or $96 billion contract between Qatar and Boeing.
From article: "A White House fact sheet released later in the day said it was a $96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing planes, contradicting Trump who said the deal was worth $200 billion and included 160 jets, though
“So it’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the Jets, that’s fantastic,” Trump said."
My understanding is that announcements of sales by either Boeing or Airbus often quote the list prices for the planes, though they are heavily discounted, especially for larger orders. That may explain the discrepancy.
He might even move the Smoking Ruins plan forward—get the place fully rebuilt ASAP. Right to his specifications!
I think you’re correct in guessing that he’ll push for this. Otherwise he’d likely have a two-year wait: to satisfy security concerns, I’m hearing, the entire plane has to be taken apart and then put back together, and major functions (such as equipment for in-air re-fueling) must be shoe-horned in somehow. A long-term labor that will cost taxpayers a billion dollars or so.
So Donald will call for 24/7 operations so that his wait time will be minimized–driving up the cost to taxpayers.
As of an hour ago, apparently, Republicans have NOT yet fallen into line with all these plans:
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5398099/trump-qatar-air-force-one-republicans-congress
I believe the VC-25Bs will not have inflight refuelling, as a cost saving measure. From what I’ve read, the VC-25As have it, but it’s never been used.
Even if the requirement for in-flight refueling is dropped, there are many dozens of other major and critical features on the VC-25s, many of which aren’t even public knowledge. The modifications are not trivial and, as Boeing discovered, cost much more than the aircraft itself. If Trump accepts this “gift”, it will be one of the most idiotic decisions to date in an administration already filled with idiotic decisions that defy belief.
No disagreement from me.
There are several airplane raffles per year. If I bought a ticket and won, I would not be able to afford my $75 airplane.
If and when modifications cost ten or millions of dollars, I will agree with you.
But if Trump insists on using the plane right away,with no expensive mods except, maybe, a paint job, I won’t.
Here’s what a real populist would do:
Nixon was not a populist, and that flight was a stunt. But even back then, communications did not require a modified aircraft. From my last link:
If Trump wastes a lot of money because a plane that flew an emir isn’t good enough for a mere president, I’ll be glad to join in.
P.S. The real security flaw is not a possible bug. It’s having the like of Hegseth, Gabbard, and Trump on the airplane.
The difference is that Nixon’s commercial flight was a one-time stunt, just like GWB’s landing on an aircraft carrier. Whereas the regular use of a plane as Air Force One is an ongoing thing, giving bad actors lots of opportunity for planning, especially when they know it has no special defenses because the president is a fucking moron.
‘Ten or millions of dollars’? It will cost close to a billion dollars to bring the bribecraft up to VC-25B standards. A new paint job alone will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.