Washington: In late April President Donald Trump stood before members of the Michigan National Guard and proclaimed that he would replace the A-10 Warthogs currently operated by Selfridge Air National Guard Base’s 107th Fighter Squadron with new Boeing-made F-15EXs set to begin arriving in fiscal 2028.
“In recent years, many in Michigan have feared for the future of the base,” Trump said. “They’ve been calling everybody, but the only one that mattered was Trump. They called Trump, and we got it done.”
While such announcements typically follow months of evaluation by the Air Force and campaigning from lawmakers, Trump’s move upended the service’s plans, which had called for KC-46 tankers to replace Selfridge’s KC-135s and A-10s and would have left the base without a fighter aircraft role going forward.
Getting the F-15EX was a major political victory for Michigan politicians who had long championed sending modern fighters to Selfridge ANGB, chief among them Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
But it also confounded lawmakers on the Hill who represent other military installations that were already in line for new F-15s and who have publicly demanded answers from Air Force officials about what the plan is going forward. Those officials, in turn, have had little to provide.
“I think everyone thought that Selfridge was going to be fine with the aircraft they were getting, and now they’re getting this additional mission,” one House aide said on the condition of anonymity. “And no one’s mad about it, but now it’s, like, a scramble to figure out what that’s going to look like.”
Another Congressional source raised a bigger question about whether this sets a precedent for the president to unilaterally change basing decisions, regardless of existing service plans — often laid out years in advance — for where equipment is set to go.
“The primary concern is that if that decision is allowed to hold, what are the limits on the Commander in Chief’s authority to reassign assets without adhering whatsoever to the strategic basing plan?” they said.
