Trump insiders privately mock 'far-fetched' plan to use luxury jet for deportations
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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in New York City, January 8, 2026. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Scandal-plagued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing yet another accusation that taxpayer dollars are helping create a lavish lifestyle for her in Washington.
NBC News reported Thursday about the top-of-the-line Boeing 737 Max 8 business jet, which Noem and the DHS have been leasing. It appears that DHS now wants to purchase the $70 million luxury liner for the frequent flyer.
The response has been furious as Americans ask why there were cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, but Noem gets a new private jet.
"The entire Trump regime is full of grifters. Taxpayers are paying. Those who thought he would actually save money are chumps. He is running government like one of the businesses that he drove into bankruptcy," commented historian and lawyer John Ragosta.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought approval from the Office of Management and Budget, promising that it would be used for deportations and travel for Cabinet officials, two officials told NBC News.
When asked how exactly the plane would be used for President Donald Trump's mass deportations effort, a DHS spokesperson promised “at least one of the bedrooms is currently being converted for seating to prepare the aircraft to meet the demands of its deportation mission set.”
For anyone flying on the plane, marketing materials detailed that Noem used it to fly all the way to Tel Aviv. It's the perfect plane for such long flights, with lie-flat seats allowing any passenger the ability to get some shuteye before Homeland Security meetings abroad. They also featured images of the high-end rooms and touted their “exceptional interior design by renowned New York designer Peter Marino.”
“No expense has been spared, and every detail has been meticulously executed,” the brochure read.
What one official found unusual, however, is that OMB was resistant to buying the plane, given that there is already a large plane she could use for travel through the Coast Guard.
“That particular plane was a ‘no,’ we weren’t going to buy it. Then all of a sudden, they said 'yes,'" the official said.
A 2024 Business Insider report showed that the first-ever private jet version of the 737 Max from Boeing costs an average price of $110 million, according to Simple Flying. That's before any additional customization.
A Snopes fact-check from last year cited DHS's public contract totaling a little more than $172 million for two private jets for Noem and other Cabinet-level officials to use. Those were said to be G700 luxury jets, however. So, it's unclear why there is a need for a third plane.
The New York Times reportedOct. 18 that public procurement documents showed the Coast Guard "signed a contract with Gulfstream to buy not one but two 'used' G700 jets, touted by the company as having the 'most spacious cabin in the industry.' The total contract value is listed as a little over $172 million."
Some in the Coast Guard are questioning whether it is an unnecessary expense, two U.S. officials, a Coast Guard official, a former Coast Guard official and two DHS officials told NBC News.
Noem's relationship with the Coast Guard is already strained after reports of several incidents revealed tensions between Noem and the federal agency. One incident involved a search-and-rescue mission for a 23-year-old Coast Guardsman who went overboard into the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 4. The Coast Guard surged ships and aircraft to the area to find him.
However, NBC reported earlier this week that "hours into the search, Noem learned that a Coast Guard C-130 that was supposed to fly detained migrants from California to Texas was among the aircraft over the Pacific looking for the missing guardsman." Noem stepped in, two U.S. officials and the Coast Guard official told reporters.
"Noem verbally instructed the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Kevin Lunday, to pull the plane off the search-and-rescue mission so it would not miss the immigrant flight," NBC said.“
"This new plane will serve dual missions — both as ICE deportation flights and for cabinet-level travel,” the DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “This plane flies at 40 percent cheaper than what the military aircraft flies for ICE deportation flights — saving the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars. This is part of Secretary Noem’s broader efforts to clamp down on inefficiencies and save taxpayer dollars.”
Still, one DHS official who has been involved in the purchase responded to comments that it would be used for deportations as “far-fetched.”