President Trump plans to use the Boeing jet gifted to him by Qatar for an upcoming trip to Ireland, sending the aircraft outside the United States for the first time since questions emerged about whether it can properly shield him from an attack.
A senior administration official told the Washington Post that the decision to fly the plane comes just weeks after Trump had signaled it would be sidelined for roughly a month so it could receive unspecified security enhancements. Today, whilst interacting with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said “it’ll take about 60 days”, when he was asked how many days it’ll take to max out the Qatari jet.
Q: Does the new Air Force One still need to be maxed out?
Trump: It'll take about 60 days.
Q: What do you plan to do with the plane after you leave office.
Trump: It'll probably go to the museum.
Q: Probably?
Trump: I haven't made a decision. pic.twitter.com/XCeOoLKXin
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 4, 2026
According to a report from The Guardian, when pressed for more detail, a senior administration official speaking on background offered only a general response, telling the publication that officials do not discuss specific changes made to Air Force One and that they work to keep the aircraft’s protective capabilities current without commenting further on the process.
Why the Plane Raises Questions
The jet was brought into presidential service earlier in Trump‘s term as a stopgap, after years of delays held up the two custom Boeing aircraft originally meant to eventually take over as Air Force One. Those two planes, still not finished, were designed from the ground up with built in missile defense systems, a level of protection the Qatari jet, sometimes referred to as a 400 million dollar palace in the sky, has never been confirmed to match.
Concerns about the plane’s ability to defend against an attack resurfaced after Trump’s most recent trip on it, a visit to a NATO summit in Turkey back in July.
What Happened During the Turkey Trip
Details later surfaced that Trump had actually been quietly moved off the aircraft using a catering truck and placed on a different, older plane after officials picked up on a possible threat from Iran while he was in Ankara. That meant the jet he had originally boarded ended up flying as a decoy.
Still aboard that original flight, the one that may have been the actual target, were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a number of senior aides, and the traveling press pool. Reporters on that flight were not informed of the threat at the time and were instructed to keep their window shades down.