"Did He Want to Fly the 'Qatar Gift' Sooner?... New Air Force One Faces 'Security Gaps' Amid Trump's Pressure"

Modified in just 8 months for the 250th anniversary
Missile defense systems and emergency exits omitted

It has been revealed that, due to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to deploy the exclusive aircraft gifted by Qatar earlier than planned, the refitting process was rushed, leading to a sharp increase in costs and a reduction in safety features.

The new Air Force One, the exclusive aircraft for the President of the United States, features a presidential seal on the door where the president boards and a large American flag painted on the rear fuselage. The government of Qatar gifted it to U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On July 25 (local time), the New York Times (NYT) reported that the White House and Department of Defense had to complete the modifications of the Boeing 747-8, which was gifted by the Qatari royal family in February last year, within just eight months to meet President Trump's strong directive to have the aircraft in service for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States (July 4, 2026).

However, this emphasis on speed reportedly resulted in compromised safety. Unlike the previous Air Force One, the newly modified aircraft is said to have omitted several features, including an additional emergency lower fuselage exit, an extra auxiliary power unit, and an advanced infrared missile defense system.

The costs soared as well. In addition to the approximately 400 million dollars (about 585 billion KRW) in modification expenses announced by the U.S. administration, an extra 400 million dollars was spent on leasing a separate Boeing 747-8 aircraft and hastily purchasing used planes in order to provide early training for new crew members. The problem is that the Department of Defense covered a portion of these costs by dipping into the "Sentinel" nuclear force modernization program budget. Previously, the NYT had reported that 934 million dollars (about 1.366 trillion KRW) from this program had been diverted to an undisclosed classified project.

Earlier, after attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders’ summit, President Trump switched to the new Air Force One on his way back to the U.S. While visiting Turkiye for the NATO Summit on July 7-8, President Trump flew on the new Air Force One gifted by Qatar. After the summit, he used the older Air Force One to move to the Mildenhall Air Force Base in the UK, where he switched back to the new exclusive aircraft to return to the U.S. He explained that the new aircraft had been sent to the British base first for a schedule to showcase it to U.S. military personnel stationed there.

However, the NYT, citing anonymous sources, reported that President Trump’s switch in aircraft was because the new Air Force One did not have fully equipped advanced missile defense capabilities and other defensive countermeasures. Later, in a press conference, President Trump referred to himself as “the number one assassination target of Iran,” which reinforced speculation that the aircraft change was motivated by security concerns.

According to the NYT, U.S. authorities also obtained intelligence that Iranian proxy forces might target President Trump and the aircraft he was on. It was explained that the U.S. Secret Service considered this a credible threat and recommended changes to the president's travel arrangements.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.