The United States Secret Service reportedly urged President Donald Trump to fly on the old Air Force One out of Türkiye, rather than the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, as a security precaution related to renewed hostilities with Iran.
People briefed on the plans, who spoke to the New York Times and US news outlet ABC News under condition of anonymity, said the switch was not related to a specific threat.
The substitution raised questions about whether the new plane had been retrofitted with sufficient safety measures since it was gifted to Mr Trump by the Qatari royal family in May 2025.
Mr Trump had urged the refurbishing of the $US400 million ($580 million) luxury jet to be finished as soon as possible.
Mr Trump flew the new jet, known as the flying palace, on his way to Ankara on Monday to attend a NATO summit, a trip that marked his first international travel on it.
Fighting between the US and Iran, which neighbours Türkiye, reignited after Mr Trump’s arrival at the summit.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump denied that security concerns were behind the change of aircraft, instead claiming he would fly it “for old time’s sake” so the new jet could make a stop at a US military base in England, where US troops would get a “chance to tour the Aircraft.”
But he also told reporters he was “number one on the kill list for Iran”.
When the US leader left Ankara, he boarded the old Air Force One unusually quickly and without giving the journalists travelling with him the chance to photograph him climbing up the steps, the New York Times reported.
Passengers were reportedly told to pull their window shades down before take off.
When the reporters asked Mr Trump if he knew why they were asked to keep their window blinds closed during the flight from Türkiye to the UK, Mr Trump replied that it probably was due to the “sleazebags over here” — an apparent reference to Iran.
He said he was not asked to close the window blinds in his compartment.
Mr Trump returned to Washington from England on the new jet.
Retrofit timeline and cost questioned
The modifications to the jet from Qatar were completed so quickly that some US officials raised concerns about whether that meant the plane was up to the security standards of the old Air Force One.
Several US politicians and officials raised security and ethics concerns after Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth accepted the jet from Qatar, but Mr Trump brushed off the concerns, saying it would be “stupid” not to accept it.
The new Air Force One, a plane gifted by Qatar, has been dubbed the flying palace.
Democrats, as well as industry and Pentagon officials quoted by the New York Times, have estimated the cost of refurbishing the jet to be more than $US1 billion ($1.55 billion) for it to fit the standards of an Air Force One, while the US Air Force has said the retrofitting cost is closer to $US400m.
The older Air Force One is reportedly fitted with a system designed to blind an incoming anti-aircraft missile, as well as a mechanism to mislead a missile and force it off course, but it is unclear if those capabilities have been installed on the newer plane.
The new luxury jet was intended as a temporary replacement while Boeing is working on delivering the next generation of Air Force One planes in a long-delayed project.
Boeing is contracted to deliver two purpose-built 747-8s, but that program is now four years behind schedule, with the planes not expected to be ready until mid-2028.
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