Trump taking Qatari Air Force One to Ireland despite questions over plane’s security

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would take the new Air Force One on its first foreign trip since a security scare in Turkey, leaving a security upgrade to the Qatari-gifted jet for next month.

The plane has been at the center of controversy since it emerged that Trump not only switched to an older model to leave a NATO summit in Ankara in July because of a reported threat from Iran, but then secretly swapped to a third aircraft.

Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that he would be taking the jet donated by Qatar’s royal family on a trip to Ireland next week despite the security concerns.

Asked if the jet would still be getting extra security measures as he had announced in July, Trump said: “It’s gonna be maxed out. Yeah, it’s going to go away, and it’s a magnificent plane.”

“It has a lot of stuff, but to max it out — meaning you can go into any territory — it’ll take about 60 days, and it’s being sent in October to be maxed out,” Trump told reporters.

But Trump’s timescale for the modifications has doubled from the month that he had previously said it would take when he first mentioned them on July 19.

The White House declined to comment on the upgrades.

“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,” a senior administration official told AFP.

“It is the greatest Presidential plane ever built.”

Secret plane switch

Trump is expected to make a fleeting visit to Dublin and then his family’s golf course in Doonbeg, western Ireland, for the Irish Open.

Qatar gave the luxury Boeing 747 jet to the United States in 2025, after Trump complained about the aging current presidential planes and delays to the delivery of their planned replacements.

Critics raised a host of ethical and security concerns about taking such a lavish gift from a foreign power.

The new plane was retrofitted by the US military before entering service with Trump at the end of June, when he called it the “world’s most luxurious plane” and a “flying White House.”

But because of the rapid pace of the modifications, the Qatari jet was reportedly not fitted with anti-missile security systems.

One of the older Air Force Ones then appeared to have been called into action when Israel briefed the US about a possible missile threat when Trump was leaving the Ankara summit.

But in fact, Trump covertly left the old Air Force One in the back of a catering truck and secretly switched to another, smaller plane.

“They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane — equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters in August.

Air Force One then departed, still carrying journalists and top aides who remained at apparent risk of an Iranian strike.

However, the Washington Post reported in July that CIA analysts expressed skepticism to the Trump administration about the Israeli intelligence regarding an Iranian assassination plot that led to the plane switch.

Trump meanwhile said Friday that he expected the Qatari jet to go to his planned presidential museum when he leaves office in 2029. But he left some room for doubt.

Boeing has said it expects to deliver the first of two purpose-built new Air Force Ones in 2028, several years behind schedule.

“I haven’t made a decision, but it will probably go to the museum. It’s scheduled to go to the museum,” Trump told reporters.

Speculation has swirled that Trump plans to use the Qatari plane as a personal jet after he leaves office, despite the fact that presidents are not meant to accept gifts from foreign countries.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.