President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to fly aboard an older version of Air Force One on a trip from Turkey to the United Kingdom — and he’s doing it purely for sentimental reasons.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would make the journey aboard the older aircraft “for old time’s sake,” while the brand-new presidential plane would also make its way to RAF Mildenhall in the UK.
The purpose of sending the new plane to the British air base? To give American troops stationed there a chance to see it up close. “Everybody is so excited and we thought that they should be the first,” Trump wrote in his post.
The new Air Force One is a Boeing 747 that was donated to the United States by Qatar and later refurbished by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies. Trump personally selected its new paint scheme — a bold combination of red, white, dark blue, and gold — which is a significant departure from the classic look that has defined Air Force One for many decades.
The acceptance of the Qatari aircraft has not been without controversy. Experts noted that transforming the luxury jet into a secure presidential aircraft required extensive work, including communications systems designed to block eavesdropping, enhanced security features, and missile defense capabilities.
