President Donald Trump has made some very controversial yet on-brand interior design choices during his second term. So, when a viral photo showed the inside of the new Air Force One, people weren’t exactly surprised. Trump took his first official flight on the new plane on July 1. When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo online, people immediately noticed an interesting detail: there are books on the plane, but they’re not real.
To a lot of Trump critics, this design choice actually makes a ton of sense for the Trump administration.
It’s not what most people would want, but people think it suits him.
What a privilege to be aboard the inaugural flight on the brand new Air Force One! A truly unforgettable day. ✈️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0vGswnULwK
— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) July 2, 2026
Arguably, most people would prefer to have a bookshelf with actual books to read. But to critics, it’s really no surprise that Trump doesn’t value literature. They actually think it speaks volumes about who he is.
The photo Leavitt shared showed dozens of decorative books behind her. It’s not totally clear whether there are any real, readable books on the aircraft, but people noticed the spines of the cream-colored books behind Leavitt simply read, “Library.”
Jokingly, one person on Reddit wrote, “D—, they have all three volumes of Library. Those are rare and actually worth a lot of money.”
Someone else said, “Okay, THIS is the most Trump thing. Books that say ‘Library.'”
People could sort of understand why the Trump admin had “fake” books on the plane.
Of course a plane full of people who have never read a book has a bookshelf of fake books with titles like “Library” https://t.co/DhJbhBNFs1 pic.twitter.com/byUu16vKoW
— Nick Mark MD (@nickmmark) July 2, 2026
“It’s not like anybody on that plane was ever going to read anything anyways,” one Redditor commented. Tons of commenters argued that Trump does not appear to read books, so having fake books on Air Force One actually feels like the “most on brand and honest thing they’ve done.”
“I’d be more shocked if they were real,” someone else wrote. “Of course, does anyone think Trump has ever read a whole book?” another person commented.
While some people thought the fake books said a lot about his reading habits, others thought they aligned with his personality as well. People commented on how “everything is just for show” with him and also said, “Everything he does is fake.”
“Kinda perfectly describes the president trying to look learned and refined but at the end just hollow,” one critic pointed out.
“The illusion of intelligence,” someone else added. “Quintessential trump.”
But why even bother with books at all then?
Usha Vance: All of these incredible accomplishments, they take a lot of reading. Do you have any time to read for fun these days?
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) July 3, 2026
POTUS: I end up reading mostly newspapers. I usually read stories about myself. pic.twitter.com/9gmFWsNwaC
Although it felt very on-brand for the Trump administration, some critics still couldn’t understand why they did this. Even if they had no plans to read any books while on the plane, they still could’ve decorated with actual books, some critics pointed out.
“I guess I wouldn’t expect anyone to actually read a book on that plane, but the cost of real books has to be about the same as fake ones,” one person commented.
Others were surprised that the Trump administration didn’t choose to stock the shelves with multiple copies of Trump’s The Art of the Deal. And hey, Vice President JD Vance recently published a new book. But they chose “Library” instead, for whatever reason.
“Why even bother with fake books?” another critic questioned. “They lie about the weirdest things.”
Clearly, a lot of people are convinced that Trump doesn’t actually read. But Second Lady Usha Vance has a podcast dedicated to reading, and Trump appeared as a special guest on July 3.
The Second Lady asked Trump, “All of these incredible accomplishments, they take a lot of reading. Do you have any time to read for fun these days?” And true to character, he said, “So, I end up reading mostly newspapers. I usually read stories about myself.”
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