Trump: Qatar-gifted Air Force One to get 'maxed out' security upgrades

Topline

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the Qatar-gifted presidential jet will undergo another round of upgrades and be "maxed out," following concerns that the plane's self-defense capabilities—including onboard missile defense systems—do not match those of older Air Force One aircraft.

Key Facts

• As Trump returned to Washington after attending Sunday's World Cup Final game in New Jersey, a reporter asked why he was flying on the new jet despite it lacking "antimissile defense systems."
• The president responded that the plane has a "lot of capability," but will go in for another set of upgrades in about a month.
• Trump added that the jet will get "maxed out" and he expects the process to take "about a month."
• The president did not specify what the new "maxed out" upgrades will include, and it remains unclear whether the one-month timeline is sufficient to bring the jet's security systems up to the standard of older presidential planes.
• It is unclear whether Trump will travel aboard older Air Force One planes while the new jet undergoes retrofits.
• Trump has repeatedly touted the new plane as more luxurious than the standard Boeing presidential aircraft, but this marks the first time he has acknowledged that the Qatari-gifted plane may lack all necessary security measures.

Key Background

Concerns about the safety of the new Qatar-gifted jet first emerged during its international debut as the new Air Force One earlier this month. Trump flew aboard the plane to attend a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, but flew the first half of his return leg—from Ankara to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. Air Force base in Suffolk, England—on the new Air Force One. While the president insisted the switch was made to allow U.S. service members stationed at the base "a chance to tour the Aircraft," reports suggested it was done at the request of the Secret Service amid a renewed conflict with Iran. While flying back from Ankara, Trump was asked if he was aware of "any credible threat by Iran to Air Force One." The president replied, "Well, I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list, before you. But if I go, you go… Perhaps someday you want to change professions."