F-35 Stealth fighter overflies the White House as President Trump watches.

Presidents Donald Trump and Andrzej Duda of Poland watch the F-35 overfly the White House with their wives. ABC News/Reuters.

In a major display an F-35 Lightning II overflew the White House while President Trump and President Andrzei Duda of Poland watched on with their wives. ABC News. The F-35 model was the Marine B model which is capable of short take offs and landings. The overflight was an extremely rare example of US military power. Poland has bought 32 of the F-35's to replace their aging Soviet era fighter jets. The sale comes as stronger ties are being established with Poland and a new deployment of 1000 troops to the US ally. 

From the rooftop of the Kennedy Center... pic.twitter.com/VICqSkSELu

— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) June 12, 2019

There it is...the F-35 fighter jet coming up over the West Wing, heading north over Washington DC. Very loud and low pic.twitter.com/pnJlHZdqCK

— Karen Travers (@karentravers) June 12, 2019

My Comment:
I've been a critic of the F-35 but even I have to admit those videos were pretty cool. The F-35B is a pretty amazing plane even if it isn't the best fighter. It was pretty clear that President Trump was putting on a show for his Polish friends.

It honestly reminds me of the Harrier. I had seen that jet fly a lot back in the day when I used to work at airshows. Though the F-35B isn't quite as capable of hovering like the Harrier is, it's still amazing to see a fighter jet flying so slow like that. I haven't seen the F-35 in flight but I have seen pretty much every other fighter jet and bomber that currently flies in the US Air Force.

As for Poland it seems pretty clear that they are trying to strengthen our relationship with them. Poland has a long history of being bullied and mistreated by their neighbors and want a strong military and alliances to counter threats from Russia. Poland has been a very good ally to the United States deploying troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and generally being good friends. Though I'm not a huge fan of the F-35 it is a very good purchase for Poland.

This was a pretty good media event for President Trump. Though I am sure that someone will complain about it, it was impressive enough that those voices will likely be ignored. It will play well with his supporters and I am guessing Poland will love it as well. Hell, even ABC News wasn't able to sneak anything negative in their report. It's a pretty good day for President Trump.