World
Report: Trump switched planes in Turkey over ‘credible threat’ by Iranian proxies
US President Donald Trump’s abrupt change of planes when departing Turkey earlier this month — from the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One to the older model — was the result of information on a “credible threat” by Iranian proxies to attempt to harm him, The New York Times reported Friday.
This threat, the report noted, was not tied to the new plane specifically, but the aircraft’s lack of advanced defenses made travel in it more dangerous.
The Times was previously the first to report that the plane swap was the result of security concerns, leading Trump’s Justice Department to attempt to subpoena its journalists to force them to divulge their sources, though it later abandoned that attempt.
Trump has spoken recently about ostensible Iranian efforts to assassinate him, threatening terrible consequences for the country if an attempt is made on his life.
He has said that his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet needed to be sent off for a month to be “maxed out,” following questions about the plane’s security features.
Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July 1 after accepting the plane as a gift last year, when an accelerated effort to renovate the Boeing 747 for presidential use began.
But Trump unexpectedly ditched the plane on a flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom amid rising hostility with Iran on July 8. He flew aboard an older Air Force One to London in what he described as a move “for old time’s sake,” but later boarded the new plane to return to the US.
“It has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out,” Trump told reporters when asked why he was still flying on a plane without full defensive capabilities.
“So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out. It’ll take about a month.”
Trump, who was speaking after flying back to Washington from the World Cup final in New Jersey, did not give details about how the plane would be “maxed out.”
The US Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times previously reported that the new jet appeared to lack a missile defense system that could counter heat-seeking missiles.
Qatar’s royal family donated the luxury airliner last year after Trump complained about the state of the two aging jets that have served as the US presidential plane since 1990.
The new plane, with red, white, dark blue and gold livery chosen by Trump, was refitted by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies.
It’s meant to serve as a temporary replacement as Boeing has struggled to deliver long-delayed next-generation Air Force One planes. Boeing is working to deliver two purpose-built 747-8s under a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract signed in 2018 that’s now four years behind schedule and over budget. Delivery of the new planes is expected in mid-2028.
The upgrades to the jet from Qatar were completed so quickly that some experts expressed concern that the plane may not be as secure as the baby blue Air Force One that preceded it. Critics have also raised a host of ethical, constitutional and security concerns about the gifting of an aircraft worth hundreds of millions of dollars by a foreign power like Qatar.
