New Qatari-Donated AF1 to Be Temporarily Taken Out

Rumors unfold rapidly when President Trump departed the NATO summit in Turkey in early July aboard the outdated 747‑200B (VC‑25A) baby-blue-and-white Air Force One instead of the shiny new $400 million Qatari-donated jet that had lately been put in service. (After a stopover in England, he returned to the U.S. on the new airplane.)

Was it because he’s “number one on the kill list for Iran” and the Islamic Republic was threatening to assassinate him? 

The story grew even more sophisticated after The New York Times alleged that the new airplane was missing superior security options. The Department of Justice issued subpoenas to the reporters concerned, but the outlet filed a movement to quash them, and the matter is still under litigation.

On Monday, however, the president confirmed that the new jet needed upgrading, and it is going to be briefly taken out of service to get “maxed out”:

“You know 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 at Joint Base Andrews after returning to Washington from the World Cup remaining in New Jersey.

“So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out. It’ll take about a month.”

Watch:

President Trump said that the Qatari-donated jet that serves as an Air Force One airplane will soon be despatched away for upgrades, following questions about the airplane’s security options https://t.co/Tx7NCAbsY0 pic.twitter.com/xk7plB8SPi

— GWN (@GWN) July 20, 2026

MORE: DOJ Subpoenas NYT Reporters in Leak Investigation After Air Force One Story, Iran Assassination Plot

‘#1 on the get rid of List’ — Is That Why Trump Ditched the Brand-New $400M AF1 for NATO Departure?

The Times story had recommended that the airplane lacked a essential protection system that the older airplane already has:

The report questioned whether or not the Boeing 747-8 had been “retrofitted with sufficient security measures” — including “an advanced missile defense system” during the frenzy to get it in the air.

“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,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a July 9 assertion trying to clarify the late change.

🚨 UPDATE: The new Air Force One is being despatched off to be UPGRADED, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pronounces

47 will use the outdated Air Force One during the roughly one-month course of 🇺🇸

It’s important Trump has MAXIMUM security on any Air Force One he’s utilizing 🙏🏻… pic.twitter.com/VZyYG2F1zC

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 20, 2026

🚨 UPDATE: The new Air Force One is being despatched off to be UPGRADED, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pronounces

47 will use the outdated Air Force One during the roughly one-month course of 🇺🇸

It’s important Trump has MAXIMUM security on any Air Force One he’s utilizing 🙏🏻

LEAVITT: “The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the President’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete. During that time, the President will fly on the old Air Force One,” she said per CBS

In about a month, then, we’ll be back to the outdated airplane for an undetermined period. The acquainted robin’s egg blue and white shade scheme picked by JFK all those years in the past will once again be a acquainted sight in the skies.

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