Older Air Force One Used for Trump Flight Due to Superior Defensive Systems; Newer Jet Displayed to Troops

President Trump departed Turkey on Wednesday aboard an older Boeing VC-25A that has carried presidents for three and a half decades rather than the new Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-800 he used to arrive. He announced the switch in a Truth Social post and said he chose the legacy aircraft for old time’s sake while the newer plane would stop at Royal Air Force Mildenhall so troops could tour it.

Base. The Qatari jet left Turkey earlier Wednesday and landed at Mildenhall that afternoon. The older plane’s transponder was temporarily disabled early in the flight. The U.S. spent $400 million retrofitting the newer jet, which lacks some missile detection and countermeasure systems present on the older Air Force One aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force stated it prioritized only some upgrades to place the jet into service quickly and said the conversion accepted no risk to security, safety or secure communications, though several complex modifications were excluded. During a news conference President Trump said he was No.

1 on the list for killing by Iran. He added that he would be going home by normal methods while the new plane was shown to troops. White House spokesman Steven Cheung said the new aircraft has high-level security protocols that include distraction and misdirection.

Trump’s first flight on the Qatari jet occurred last week to North Dakota. The two permanent custom Air Force One jets under construction by Boeing are expected in 2028.