The new Air Force One gifted to the U.S. by Qatar is presently present process “beauty upgrades” to its inside, an administration supply instructed ABC Information on Friday.
This comes after President Donald Trump instructed ABC’s Rachel Scott final month that the brand new airplane could be despatched away to get “maxed out” with elevated safety measures this month and that the method would take about 60 days.
“It should be maxed out. Yeah, it’ll go away and — to make magnificent airplane. Inside smart, the most effective. Engines, the most effective,” Trump instructed Scott on the time. “[…] it has lots of stuff, however to max it out, that means you may go into any territory, it’s going to take about 60 days. And it is being despatched in October to be maxed out.”
A view of the brand new Air Pressure One, earlier than President Donald Trump boards for his first flight aboard the Boeing 747-8 that Qatar gifted the USA to make use of for govt journey, previous to departure from Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland, July 1, 2026.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Pictures
The administration supply didn’t point out safety upgrades and the White Home didn’t instantly reply to questions on whether or not safety upgrades might be included, when the mission is predicted to be accomplished or when the airplane will return to service.
The brand new airplane, a present from the Qatari royal household price $400 million, has raised questions from some lawmakers and ethics consultants over the unprecedented international reward.
Earlier this yr, Trump referred to as the jet, which is roughly 14 years outdated, “the world’s most luxurious airplane.”
It’s unclear the precise date the brand new Air Pressure One went into service, however Trump unveiled it in June. The final documented journey the Qatari-gifted jet made was Sept. 16 to North Carolina.
The president has flown on the outdated Air Pressure One for current home journeys, together with Thursday’s go to to Texas and Oklahoma, to Chicago final Sunday for the Presidents Cup golf match, to Tennessee final Saturday for a school soccer recreation, and to the United Nations Basic Meeting in New York Metropolis on Sept. 21 and 22.
Trump’s journey aboard the brand new airplane to the Republican midterm conference in early September was delayed after navy personnel accidentally triggered one of many airplane’s emergency slides.
If the president’s 60-day timeline holds, the brand new Air Pressure One could be out of fee for journey to the ASEAN Summit within the Philippines and the APEC summit in China, that are each scheduled in November. Trump has confirmed that he plans to attend APEC.
President Donald Trump steps out of the brand new Air Pressure One, gifted to him by Qatar, in a hangar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, June 19, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP through Getty Pictures
The president flew on the Qatari-gifted airplane to Eire from Sept. 11 to 13, marking its first worldwide journey since he secretly switched planes whereas leaving the NATO summit in Turkey in July amid threats in opposition to him from Iran.
On the time, sources instructed ABC Information that the Secret Service had urged Trump to fly on the older Air Pressure One as a safety precaution, and the New York Occasions reported in July that the brand new airplane lacked the anti-missile capabilities the earlier mannequin has. U.S. officers had additionally instructed ABC that the choice was influenced partly by variations within the airplane’s safety capabilities.
The White Home defended the airplane’s security on the time.
“The brand new Air Pressure One is a state-of-the-art plane that has been fitted with high-level safety protocols that guarantee the security of the president and his employees,” Steven Cheung, the communications director, stated in a press release to the New York Occasions in July. “Because the president has stated not too long ago, there are various enemies of America who’ve their sights on him, and we use each device at our disposal to handle these threats.”
After information broke of the key airplane swap, Trump stated the choice was made by the Secret Service and U.S. navy.
