Mandela travelled on Trump’s plane in 1990: Who paid for it?

In the last few weeks before Election Day, podcaster and Fox News contributor George “Tyrus” Murdoch tried to show voters a philanthropic side of former President Donald Trump.

Nelson Mandela was “trying to come to the United States. The US government was not helping him. No one was helping him,” Murdoch said in an interview with Trump posted October 18 on X. “You chartered a 727 plane for their entire trip. … Why is it hard 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 it. We all like a certain level of praise, but I just like helping people,” Trump said. “I help a lot of people, and I enjoy doing it, and I never talk about it. It’s nice that you bring it up. I also think it’s not a narrative that the press likes talking about for me.”

Trump’s campaign posted the clip on X, where it had more than 3 million views as of October 19. Other social media users have 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 hard for you to talk about the things you've done?

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

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 18, 2024

“In 1990, President Trump chartered a private plane to get Nelson Mandela to America when the U.S. government wouldn’t help,” one October 18 Instagram post said.

The Instagram post’s caption said Trump “doesn’t go around bragging about his good deeds and charitable donations, but there are endless such stories”.

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

Mandela used one of Trump’s planes to fly within the US. But the travel was not part of Trump’s “charitable donations”, as the Instagram post claimed. It was a $130,000 business transaction.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Mandela rented one of Trump’s planes for $130,000

In June 1990, Mandela travelled to the US on an 11-day tour after his release from prison. Mandela visited the US as part of a larger world tour seeking financial and political support for his party and pressuring countries to continue sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid government. Mandela’s team had four weeks to organise the tour, The New York Times reported at the time. A June 1990 Los Angeles Times article said Mandela had unsuccessfully tried to find a plane after negotiating with the US government and private charter companies.

Christine Dolan, who handled Mandela’s travel logistics, told the Los Angeles Times that Mandela’s team contacted Trump asking to rent his private jet. Trump said the jet was being serviced but he offered one of his Boeing 727 commercial planes. At the time, Trump owned an airline, Trump Shuttle, that operated flights between New York City, Washington, DC and Boston.

“The Mandela Welcoming Committee is very thankful to Donald Trump,” Dolan told the Los Angeles Times.

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

Soon after its 1989 launch, Trump Shuttle ran into financial problems. Trump spent $365m on 21 planes, airline terminals and equipment, according to The Boston Globe, and also spent $1m per plane to remodel them.

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

“Trump obviously could not donate a plane, but he was able to free up one of the planes from Trump Shuttle,” Dolan told The Atlanta Journal Constitution in June 1990, referencing Trump Shuttle’s financial troubles.

The US government supported Mandela in other ways on his tour

Although the Los Angeles Times reported that negotiations with the US government for a plane failed, federal and local government agencies helped Mandela with US travel logistics. 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 picking up part of the tab,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in June 1990.
The US government provided a military jet to transport a bulletproof limousine from Washington, DC, to Boston, the newspaper said.

In New York City, the police department built a bullet- and rocket-resistant parade vehicle, a June 20, 1990, a CBS News report said. About 12,000 police officers were on duty the day of Mandela’s visit to New York City, which cost $2m in overtime that the US State Department paid, CBS News said.

A State Department official travelled with Mandela during his US tour, 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 ruling

An Instagram post said that as part of his “charitable donations”, in 1990 Trump “chartered a private plane to get Nelson Mandela to America when the U.S. government wouldn’t help”.

Mandela used one of Trump Shuttle’s Boeing 727 planes to travel within the US 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 US government did not provide Mandela a plane for his US travel, it paid for his security and used a military plane to transport a bulletproof limousine across states.

We rate it False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.