Trump switches back to old Air Force One amid Iran strikes

Trump flew part of the way home from the NATO summit on the older baby-blue Air Force One, then moved onto the new Qatar-gifted Boeing 747-8 in Britain as the United States and Iran began trading strikes again. He said he used the older plane “for old time’s sake,” while the newer aircraft had been sent ahead to RAF Mildenhall so U.S. service members stationed there could tour it.

The mid-trip switch put the presidential fleet’s shortcomings back under a harsh spotlight. Trump told reporters in Ankara that he was “number one on the kill list for Iran,” but he did not say whether a specific assassination threat drove the change. The new aircraft had just made its first international trip, and the handoff from Turkey to Britain underscored how quickly a political display can turn into an operational problem.

The jet itself has been at the center of months of scrutiny. The United States accepted it as an “unconditional donation” from Qatar in July 2025, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed the memorandum of understanding with Qatar’s minister of state for defense affairs, Soud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. The plane, a Boeing 747-8 described as a $400 million gift, was unveiled by Trump on June 19, 2026, and he took his first flight on it on July 1, 2026.

Security and cost concerns have followed the aircraft from the start. The retrofit cost is classified, lawmakers have speculated it could reach $1 billion, and the Air Force said the money would come from the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program. Critics have also questioned whether a foreign-gifted plane can match the protections built into the existing presidential aircraft, especially in a crisis involving Iran and a rapidly changing threat environment.

That concern is sharpened by the state of the current fleet. The old Air Force One is one of two Boeing 747-200 aircraft that have been in service since 1990. The Qatar jet is meant as a bridge until Boeing’s delayed new presidential planes are ready, a project now expected to take about two more years. The contrast between the aging aircraft, the borrowed luxury jet and the security demands of a live international confrontation defined the moment Trump chose to make a show of switching planes.