Trump switches back to old Air Force One for England trip; clarifies what happened to Qatari aircraft

US President Donald Trump used the older Air Force One to fly from Turkey to England, rather than the new Qatari-gifted aircraft he used to travel to the Nato summit in Ankara. The unexpected change of plans soon prompted questions about security fears. However, the American leader later boarded the new plane at Mildenhall air force base in the United Kingdom for the trip back to Washington.

“We just landed and met up with our new Air Force One, which was sent earlier to RAF Mildenhall, so we could show the wonderful Servicemembers, as per the entire Base’s request,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday evening, along with a photo of servicemembers in front of the new plane. “They were very excited, picture enclosed. It was on our way back to the States from Turkey, with virtually no deviation of flight path," he added.

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It is pertinent to note that Trump first announced the change in a post on TruthSocial on Wednesday, where he maintained that “to honour our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft”.

“For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey to Mildenhall, a short trip that is totally worth doing to give our Great Military Heroes a chance to appreciate our beautiful new addition to the Air Force Fleet!" he added.

The speculations surrounding it

It is pertinent to note that Trump had flown to Turkey on board the new $400m aircraft, which was given to the US as a gift last year by the Qatari government. This marked the first international trip of the Qatari aircraft.

Hence, the change in plans to fly the older jet drew questions during a news conference at the Nato Summit in Ankara, where Trump was asked why he was not returning on board the new plane. One reporter asked the president to “address speculation that you’re leaving Ankara not in the new Air Force One because of security concerns involving Iran”, noting that: “You’ve spoken today twice about them possibly assassinating you and possibly being successful.”

While the American president brushed over the part about the aircraft, he spoke on the possible Iranian assassination attempts; he said: “I speak about it a lot because the life of a president is very dangerous." “I’m No 1 on the kill list for Iran,” he added.

Shortly after this assertion, another reporters asked: “But why aren’t you flying the new plane?” to which Trump responded: “It’s flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases, where we can show it to the people, and we’ll be going home by normal methods, but we have it going to Europe, to a couple of bases, actually one in particular, but it’s going to go to a couple of bases so the soldiers can see it because it’s truly magnificent.”

Last year, the Trump administration drew backlash when it was confirmed that it had accepted the gift of a Boeing 747 jetliner from Qatar, with lawmakers voicing concerns about security and conflicts of interest. It is pertinent to note that the latest itinerary change came as Trump, when discussing Iran, told reporters on Wednesday that “they want to take out the US leader, me, I’m on every list”.

“I’m on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long, because that’s the way it goes,” Trump added.