Boeing VC-25 entered into a contract to purchase two of a bankrupt Russian firm's (Transaero) undelivered 747-8 Intercontinentals from Boeing, which is storing them in the Mojave Desert to prevent corrosion. These aircraft are to be retrofitted with telecommunications and security equipment to bring them to the required security level for the presidential aircraft. On 27 February 2018, the White House announced a $3.9 billion agreement with Boeing to modify two unsold 747-8s to replace the current VC-25A fleet. The new aircraft will be designated VC-25B. They are due to be delivered by 2024. The VC-25 "Air Force One" is a prominent
Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories "Barry" rather than "Barack"; and that Barack Obama Sr. was not his biological father, as well as the rumor that Barack Obama was not a natural-born citizen. In August 2008, Philip J. Berg, a former member of the Democratic State Committee of Pennsylvania, brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against Obama, which alleged "that Obama was born in Mombasa, Kenya." In October 2008, an NPR article referred to "Kenyan-born Sen. Barack Obama." Also that month, anonymous e-mails circulated claiming that the Associated Press (AP) had reported Obama was "Kenyan-Born". The claims were based on an AP story that had appeared five years