President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would fly home from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, aboard the older presidential aircraft rather than the newly delivered Air Force One, announcing in a post on Truth Social that the new plane would instead stop in the United Kingdom so American troops could tour it. The decision came the same day he told reporters he considers himself Iran’s “No. 1 target” for assassination. MEAWW
Speaking at a press conference as he wrapped up the summit, Trump was pressed twice on why he was not taking the new jet on what would have been its first foreign return flight. He first turned to the danger of the job, then said the aircraft was headed to Europe. “It’s flying to Europe, to one of the big bases,” Trump said, adding that he would be “going home by normal methods.” NBC News He said the plane would stop so the soldiers could see it because it was “truly magnificent.”
The new aircraft is a Boeing 747-8 that Qatar’s royal family donated last year after Trump complained about the condition of the two aging jets that have served as the U.S. presidential plane since 1990. Yahoo! He unveiled the retrofitted plane last month at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The U.S. Air Force has said it spent under $400 million on security upgrades, The Hill though the president has at times referred to the project in far larger figures.
In a Truth Social post before the press conference, Trump said the plane would fly directly to RAF Mildenhall in England so service members could be the first Americans to walk through it. He said he would fly home in the older plane “for old time’s sake.” PBS
The timing drew immediate scrutiny. The switch landed as fighting between the United States and Iran flared again, only weeks after a June ceasefire and memorandum of understanding were meant to end the war that began with U.S.-led strikes on February 28. Newsweek Earlier Wednesday, Trump threatened fresh strikes on Iranian targets and floated reinstating a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that carried roughly a fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons before the conflict. The Hill
Reporters asked directly whether security concerns tied to Iran drove the plane change. Trump did not confirm or deny it. “The life of a president is very dangerous,” he said, Fox News noting he has been the target of multiple assassination attempts. “I’m No. 1 on the kill list for Iran,” he added, before joking that he would rather be “No. 1 on TikTok.” The Hill
The White House has denied that the change in plans is due to any issue with the new plane. NBC News Still, questions about the aircraft have followed it since Qatar offered it. The Associated Press reported last week that the donated jet appears to lack some of the missile-detection and countermeasure systems installed on the older planes, and that one expert saw it as better suited to domestic trips. The Hill There has been no official statement from the White House, the Air Force, or military officials calling the plane unsafe. MEAWW
According to a senior White House official, the plan calls for Trump to fly the former Air Force One from Turkey to Mildenhall, then continue to Joint Base Andrews on the newer jet. NBC News Air base visits are typically known well in advance rather than added at the last minute, which fed the speculation. NBC News
The plane itself remains a stopgap. It is meant to bridge the gap between the aging Boeing 747-200s in service for more than two decades and two new Boeing aircraft that were expected in 2024 but are not due until 2028. The Hill
Around the plane story, the war took center stage. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces had struck small craft harassing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, along with underground sites storing drones and missiles, coastal defenses and radar. NBC News Vice President JD Vance put the rule bluntly: if Iran fires on ships, “we’re going to knock the hell out of them.” NBC News Iran vowed to respond. Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesman for Iran’s parliamentary security committee, warned that Gulf states aligned with Washington should “watch over their oil and gas wells.” CBS News
For businesses tracking energy prices and shipping lanes, the renewed fighting keeps the Strait of Hormuz at the center of risk. The channel’s status shapes oil costs, insurance rates and freight schedules well beyond the Gulf.
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