Secret Service advised Trump to not fly Qatari-gifted Air Force One

Source: The Hill

Administration
Secret Service advised Trump to not fly Qatari-gifted Air Force One

BY ASHLEIGH FIELDS - 07/08/26 10:36 PM ET

The Secret Service advised President Trump not to leave the NATO Summit in Turkey on the newer Qatari-gifted Air Force One, according to a Wednesday report.

Sources familiar with the matter said the president flew out of Ankara on the older Air Force One model out of an abundance of caution for a potential threat from Iran, although none were explicitly identified, the New York Times reported.

The Secret Service referred The Hill to the president's Truth Social post made earlier in the day when asked about the assessment from officials.

Trump wrote that the Qatari plane "was sent earlier to RAF Mildenhall, so we could show the wonderful Servicemembers, as per the entire Base's request." ... "They were very excited, picture enclosed. It was on our way back to the States from Turkey, with virtually no deviation of flightpath," he added.

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Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5960254-secret-service-advised-trump-to-not-fly-qatari-gifted-air-force-one/

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Not everyone can get to that "New York Times" story. I managed. Here's that:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/us/politics/trump-air-force-one-security.html

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Security Precaution Led Trump to Use Old Air Force One in Leaving Turkey

The Secret Service is said to have asked that the president not use the Qatari-donated jet when he left Ankara. The swap deepens questions about the retrofitting of the new plane.

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President Trump changed airplanes at the urging of the Secret Service, flying on the old Air Force One jet as a security precaution instead of the new Qatari-gifted plane for part of his return trip from a NATO summit in Turkey. Doug Mills/The New York Times

By Tyler Pager, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Eric Lipton
Tyler Pager reported from Ankara, Turkey. Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Eric Lipton reported from Washington.
Published July 8, 2026
Updated July 9, 2026, 3:31 a.m. ET

President Trump flew out of Turkey on Wednesday night on the old Air Force One instead of his new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 as a security precaution related to the resumption of hostilities with Iran, according to people briefed on the plans, who said the change came at the urging of the Secret Service.

The swap deepens questions about whether the new plane, which the president had pressed to be ready as soon as possible, was retrofitted with sufficient security measures over the last year. Lawmakers and some officials have raised concerns about whether the expedited timeline allowed for the addition of an advanced missile defense system and other modifications used to protect the president.

In a statement, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said that "the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff." ... "As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal -- including distraction and misdirection -- to address those threats," he added.

But people briefed on the new plane's capabilities, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues, said the new plane does not have all the features of the older plane. The switch in the president's aircraft when he departed Turkey was a precautionary measure made at the advice of the Secret Service and not because of a specific threat, they said.

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https://www.nytimes.com/by/tyler-pager
https://www.nytimes.com/by/julian-e-barnes
https://www.nytimes.com/by/eric-schmitt
https://www.nytimes.com/by/eric-lipton
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What Temu Oddjob is trying to say is that we, the American taxpayers, just got hosed to the tune of $400 million for this plane just for it to make one flyover of Mount Rushmore last Friday and a few more of the National Mall the following day. But hey, you turn eighty only once.

It would have been a lot cheaper to have given Donald a diesel Dodge Ram with the emission controls removed so that he could drive it around the Capital Beltway rolling coal until it was his bedtime.