Qatar Gave Trump a Jet. Iran Made Him Take the Old One. The Explanation Was “For Old Time’s Sake.”
The president of the United States landed in Turkey for the NATO summit aboard the new Qatari-gifted Boeing 747 — the plane he accepted from the government of Qatar, which he retrofitted with American taxpayer funds at a cost of $400 million, which constitutional scholars say is an emolument, which he painted red, white, and blue, and which he has been referring to as “the most beautiful plane” in the world.
He flew home on the old one.
Trump flew partway home from the NATO summit in Turkey on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he arrived in — a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes.
Asked why, Trump said he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake.”
For old time’s sake. The President of the United States quietly abandoned his $400 million gift plane at a NATO summit in Turkey because Iran was launching strikes and the gift plane doesn’t have missile countermeasures, and his official explanation was nostalgia.
What the Qatar Jet Actually Is
The original Air Force One planes were built from scratch near the end of the Cold War and were hardened against the effects of a nuclear blast and included a range of security features, such as anti-missile countermeasures and an onboard operating room. The jets are also equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities for contingencies.
The Qatar jet has none of that. Images of the Qatari-gifted jet captured since its unveiling show it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.
Jeremiah Gertler, a senior analyst for Teal Group, an aviation and defense consulting firm, previously told the Associated Press that the absence of countermeasure systems, as well as a seemingly smaller number of communications antennas, suggested that the Qatari jet was better suited to only work as a domestic aircraft.
Domestic aircraft. The plane given by the government of Qatar, accepted by the president, retrofitted at American taxpayer expense for $400 million, unveiled with enormous fanfare as the new Air Force One — is suitable for flying to North Dakota. Trump’s first flight on the new Qatari jet was to North Dakota last week.
It is not suitable for flying near a country whose missiles and drones have the range to reach Turkey. Which the president is currently at war with. Which he started that war during active peace negotiations.
The U.S. Air Force had previously said that they had to prioritize making only some of the necessary upgrades and changes in order to deliver the Qatari jet — also known as the “bridge” aircraft — into service. The Air Force argued that the rapid conversion of the jet was done “without accepting any risk regarding security, safety, or secure communications,” but did concede that “several highly complex engineering modifications required for the final Air Force One aircraft were intentionally excluded from the Bridge aircraft.”
Several highly complex engineering modifications were excluded. Modifications like, for instance, the ones that prevent an Iranian Shahed drone from hitting the plane carrying the President of the United States.
The Cover Story
When asked if the missing countermeasure systems played a role in the jet being swapped out, the U.S. Air Force directed questions to the White House. “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,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “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.”
Distraction and misdirection. The White House spokesperson explained that the administration uses distraction and misdirection as tools to protect the president. This was offered as a defense. The official statement of the United States government, explaining why the president flew on a different plane than announced, is that sometimes they lie about where he is going and what he is flying on.
They are not wrong that this is a security measure. Presidential security does involve misdirection. The problem is that the spokesperson applied this framework to explain an embarrassing situation in which the $400 million Qatar jet turned out to be unsuitable for international travel near a warzone — and the result is that the White House has officially confirmed that its statements about the president’s whereabouts and transportation should not be taken at face value.
That is the official policy. Distraction and misdirection.
Trump departed Turkey aboard one of the older Boeing VC-25As that have carried presidents for 3½ decades. Consumer flight trackers were unable to monitor its transponder early in the flight after takeoff, suggesting it had been temporarily disabled by the crew — a security measure used when ferrying the president to and from high-risk environments like war zones, not a major NATO ally hosting a long-scheduled summit. Other world leaders’ flights departed with trackable transponders, including those from Germany and the U.K.
Every other world leader at the NATO summit flew home in a trackable plane. The American president flew home in a plane with its transponder disabled — not because Turkey is a war zone, but because the war he started has made routine international travel by the American president require wartime security measures.
The Mildenhall Maneuver
The luxurious Boeing 747-800 gifted by Qatar departed earlier from Turkey and landed at RAF Mildenhall on Wednesday afternoon, flight trackers showed. Trump boarded the new jet at Mildenhall, and it promptly took off for Joint Base Andrews outside Washington after he greeted service members stationed there.
So the sequence was: fly to Turkey on the Qatar plane. Leave Turkey secretly on the old Air Force One with the transponder off. Fly to England. Switch back to the Qatar plane. Fly home. Land at Andrews. Tell reporters it was for old time’s sake.
Trump denied to reporters accompanying him that security concerns involving Iran were a factor in flying two planes home. When reporters asked why they were asked to keep their window blinds closed during the flight from Turkey to the U.K., Trump replied that it probably was due to the “sleazebags over here” — an apparent reference to Iran.
So it wasn’t about Iran. But the blinds were down because of Iran. And the transponder was off — a wartime security measure — but it wasn’t about the war. And he flew on the old plane for sentimental reasons, not because the new one lacks countermeasure systems. And the Air Force says the new plane is state-of-the-art, except for the several highly complex engineering modifications that were excluded.
The $400 Million Question
Qatar gave the United States a $400 million airplane. The United States spent $400 million retrofitting it. The president used it to fly to North Dakota and to Turkey. When Iran made the airspace around Turkey feel like a warzone, the president switched to the plane that was actually built to survive a warzone — the one that cost American taxpayers considerably less than $400 million and was not a gift from a foreign government.
The Qatar jet is now, functionally, the domestic Air Force One. It is suitable for trips to rally states and golf courses and birthday celebrations. For actual foreign policy — the kind that involves adversaries with ballistic missiles and drone fleets — the president needs the plane that was built during the Cold War to survive a nuclear exchange.
Qatar gave Trump a beautiful plane. Iran revealed what it was actually worth.
The explanation was old time’s sake.