Mandela flew on Trump's plane in 1990: who paid for it? | US elections 2024

In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, podcaster and Fox News contributor George Tyrus Murdoch tried to show voters the philanthropic side of former President Donald Trump.

Nelson Mandela was trying to come to the United States. The American government was not helping him. Nobody was helping him, Murdoch said in an interview with Trump published October 18 on X. You chartered a 727 plane for their entire trip. Why is it difficult for you to talk about the things you've done?

Mandela, who died in 2013, was an anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994.

Trump thanked Murdoch for bringing up the story.

I love doing it. I don't need praise for that. We all like a certain level of praise, but I just like helping people, Trump said. I help a lot of people, I enjoy doing it and I never talk about it. It's good that you talk about it. I also think it's not a story the press likes to talk about for me.

The Trump campaign posted the clip on X, where it had been viewed more than 3 million times as of October 19. Other social media users continued to share it.

.@PlanetTyrus: Nelson Mandela was trying to come to the United States. You chartered a plane for the entire trip. Why is it difficult for you to talk about the things you've done?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I love doing it. I don't need praise for that. I just like helping people. I help a lot pic.twitter.com/L5aUfXzH2D

Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 18, 2024

In 1990, President Trump chartered a private plane to fly Nelson Mandela to America when the U.S. government would not help, according to an October 18 Instagram post.

The caption of the Instagram posts indicates that Trump doesn't brag about his good deeds and charitable donations, but there are endless stories like this.

The post was flagged as part of Metas' efforts to combat fake news and misinformation on its feed.

Mandela used one of Trump's planes to fly to the United States. But the trip was not part of Trump's charitable donations, as the Instagram post claimed. This was a $130,000 business transaction.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Mandela rented a plane from Trump for $130,000

In June 1990, Mandela visited the United States for an 11-day tour following his release from prison. Mandela visited the United States as part of a broader world tour seeking financial and political support for his party and pressuring countries to maintain sanctions against the apartheid government in Africa South. Mandela's team had four weeks to organize the tour, the New York Times reported at the time. A June 1990 Los Angeles Times article said Mandela had tried unsuccessfully to find a plane after negotiating with the U.S. government and private charter companies.

Christine Dolan, who handled the logistics of Mandela's trip, told the Los Angeles Times that Mandela's team contacted Trump to ask about renting his private jet. Trump said the plane was undergoing maintenance, but he offered one of his Boeing 727 commercial planes. At the time, Trump owned an airline, Trump Shuttle, which operated flights between New York, Washington , DC and Boston.

Mandela's welcoming committee is very grateful to Donald Trump, Dolan told the Los Angeles Times.

But the use of the plane was not free. Mandela's team rented a Trump Shuttle plane for $130,000, Dolan told the newspaper.

Shortly after its launch in 1989, Trump Shuttle experienced financial problems. Trump spent $365 million on 21 planes, terminals and airline equipment, according to the Boston Globe, and also spent $1 million per plane to renovate them.

But after 18 months, wrote the Boston Globe, the company had lost $128 million. After missing a $1.1 million interest payment, Trump asked his lenders to defer future payments, the newspaper reported. Lenders took control of the company, Time reported, and in December 1991 they reached a deal with USAir to take over Trump Shuttle, The New York Times reported.

Trump obviously couldn't donate a plane, but he was able to free one of Trump Shuttle's planes, Dolan told the Atlanta Journal Constitution in June 1990, referring to Trump Shuttle's financial problems.

The US government supported Mandela in other ways during his tour

Although the Los Angeles Times reported that negotiations with the U.S. government for a plane had failed, federal and local government agencies assisted Mandela with the logistics of the trip to the United States. The State Department also provided security for Mandela, The New York Times reported.

Although Mr. Mandela and his wife Winnie are visiting the United States as private citizens, the U.S. government is footing part of the bill, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in June 1990. The U.S. government provided a military plane to transport a bulletproof limousine from Washington, D.C., to Boston, the newspaper said.

In New York, the police department built a parade vehicle resistant to bullets and rockets on June 20, 1990, according to a CBS News report. About 12,000 police officers were on duty the day of Mandela's visit to New York, which cost $2 million in overtime paid by the U.S. State Department, CBS News reported.

A State Department official accompanied Mandela on his tour of the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Nelson Mandela addresses the crowd at John F. Kennedy International Airport after arriving in New York, June 20, 1990. [Charles Rex Arbogast/AP]
Our decision

An Instagram post said that, as part of his charitable giving, Trump in 1990 chartered a private plane to take Nelson Mandela to America when the U.S. government would not help.

Mandela used one of Trump Shuttle's Boeing 727s to travel around the United States during his 11-day tour in June 1990. But Mandela's team paid Trump $130,000 for use of the plane ; it was not a gift.

Although the U.S. government did not provide Mandela with a plane for his trip to the United States, he paid for his security and used a military plane to transport a bulletproof limousine across the states.

We rate it false.

PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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