Donald Trump plans to travel to Ireland on Qatari-donated jet amid security concerns
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Donald Trump plans to travel to Ireland on Qatari-donated jet amid security concerns")
Trump's Boeing luxury jet donated by the Qataris. Photograph: (X/@diganta_guha)
A senior administration official claimed that the decision came weeks after Trump suggested the plane would be grounded for nearly a month while it underwent unspecified security upgrades.
US President Donald Trump planned to fly to Ireland next week with the Boeing luxury jet donated by the Qataris despite security concerns and incomplete upgrades, a senior administration official confirmed on Friday (September 5). Earlier, Trump announced that the plane would be taken out of service for roughly a month for new security upgrades. On Friday (September 4), Trump said that after his term ends, the plane would probably go to his presidential museum.
A senior administration official claimed that the decision comes weeks after Trump suggested the plane would be grounded for nearly a month while it underwent unspecified security upgrades. Explaining further, a senior administration official said, “We don’t comment on specific upgrades or modifications to Air Force One. We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture.”
Two custom-built Boeing aircraft
The jet was repurposed for presidential use earlier in Trump’s term, following years of delays to the two custom-built Boeing aircraft meant to eventually become the new Air Force One. While those planes yet to be ready have been designed from the basics, with elaborate missile-defence systems built in. The plane, costing $400m, a “palace in the sky,” has never been confirmed to have a match.
Concerns about the plane's defence capabilities resurfaced after Trump's most recent trip abroad on it, to a NATO summit in Turkey this past July. It later came to light that Trump had actually been secretly transferred via a catering truck onto a different, older aircraft after officials became aware of a potential Iranian threat in Ankara, leaving the plane he'd originally boarded to serve as a decoy.
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That original flight, which may have been the actual target, carried Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, several senior aides, and the travelling press corps, none of whom were informed of the threat and who were instructed to keep their window shades drawn.
The incident has since been featured in a new Netflix mini-documentary, sparking widespread criticism and outrage over accusations that Trump had been willing to treat his own staff and journalists as disposable to protect himself. Meanwhile, what security enhancements, if any, the jet has actually received since being grounded remains unclear to this day.
