AI Generated Image
Security Precaution Led Trump to Use Old Air Force One in Leaving Turkey
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- President Trump departed Turkey on Wednesday night using the old Air Force One instead of the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 due to security precautions linked to renewed hostilities with Iran, as advised by the Secret Service.
- The decision raises concerns about whether the new plane, expedited for readiness at Trump's request, has been adequately retrofitted with advanced security features like missile defense systems.
- White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the new aircraft's security, emphasizing its state-of-the-art protocols and the use of tactics like distraction and misdirection to protect the president.
- Sources familiar with the new plane's capabilities, speaking anonymously, indicated it lacks some security features present on the older aircraft, and the switch was a precaution rather than a response to a specific threat.
- Trump had flown the new plane to Turkey for a NATO summit earlier in the week, but escalating conflict with Iran and subsequent U.S. strikes occurred while he was in Ankara, about 1,000 miles from the conflict zone.
