Donald Trump’s fascination with and rhetoric about airplanes became an unexpected staple of his first term, which came to mind anew as the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the new F-47 fighter jet during an Oval Office event. The New York Times reported:
President Trump announced that Boeing has won the contract for the next-generation fighter, which he said would be called the F-47 — a number clearly chosen to memorialize his presidency. He described it as a very stealthy fighter, though it has been highly controversial, in part because many experts believe that by the time it is fielded, manned fighters will be outdated and outmaneuvered by autonomous and semi-autonomous aircraft.
Not surprisingly, Trump had quite a bit to say about the new plane, telling reporters, for example, that the F-47 is “virtually unseeable.” He also made curious comments about international customers, saying that many U.S. allies were interested in buying the aircraft, and that the United States would likely sell them “toned down” versions “because someday, maybe they’re not our allies.”
The Republican similarly took a moment to claim that the plane’s price is still a secret.
JD Vance was also on hand for the event because, as the vice president put it, he thinks “airplanes are pretty cool.”
But of particular interest was the choice of designations. Trump is the 47th U.S. president (as well as the 45th president), which helped explain why he said during, “The generals picked a title, and it’s a beautiful number.”
I haven’t seen any reporting about how, exactly, “the generals” chose this specific designation, though it’s worth noting that the U.S. military already flew an F-47 during World War II.
Evidently, the United States will now have another F-47, to the apparent delight of the president who thinks 47 is a “beautiful” number.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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