Former President Donald Trump flew to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey on July 8 aboard a new Boeing 747-8 presidential plane donated by Qatar. The plane was originally a luxury aircraft for the Qatari royal family with a 14-year-old airframe and underwent a rushed eight-month, $510 million conversion to serve as Air Force One. However, it lacks several advanced defensive and missile protection features found on the older Air Force One due to the short retrofit timeline and will be upgraded this fall with a temporary out-of-service period of about one month [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
Following arrival, Trump switched to the older Air Force One plane before departing Turkey after US officials and intelligence agencies assessed a credible threat from Iranian-backed proxy forces targeting him personally and any aircraft he occupied. The Secret Service recommended the change amid an "unprecedented" threat environment. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said, "I think the overall environment is extremely volatile, and not just against our protectees, but against local officials as well. The level of threat we face is unprecedented." Trump later confirmed the new plane's missile defenses were insufficient, though he promised it would be "upgraded to the highest standards" soon [1, 2, 3, 4, 7].
Trump claimed publicly that one reason for switching planes was to enable US troops in the UK to see the new aircraft, but multiple sources attribute the main driver to the credible threat from Iranian proxy groups. Israeli intelligence reportedly warned the US about threats to Trump, though some US officials expressed skepticism about Israeli motives and viewed that warning separately from the one that prompted the aircraft switch [2, 3, 4].
The US government redirected $934 million from the "Sentinel" nuclear modernization program to a classified project covering the plane’s conversion and crew training. The new Boeing 747-8 lacks several traditional safety systems due to the rushed conversion timeline but will undergo significant upgrades this fall, taking it out of service temporarily. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, "The president’s travel on the new Air Force One is absolutely safe, but additional upgrades and enhancements are expected this fall, which should take approximately one month. During that time, the president will use the old Air Force One." [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
In a separate development, US prosecutors had issued subpoenas to New York Times reporters relating to reporting on plane security matters but withdrew them later in July following public scrutiny [1, 8, 7].
The credible threat to Trump and the aircraft switch occurred on July 8 during his Turkey visit. Upgrades to the new Boeing 747-8 presidential plane are scheduled for fall 2026, with an estimated one-month service pause.
