An emergency inflatable slide deployed from President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One on Wednesday afternoon as he waited to board the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews. The slide rolled out onto the tarmac from the right side of the Qatari-gifted aircraft at about 2:20 PM, according to a White House pool report. Trump was nearby on Marine One at the time.
Looks like the Qatari plane is having some issues with the slide? pic.twitter.com/X2m9IpF2Gd
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 9, 2026
Trump is scheduled to fly to Dallas for the Republican midterm convention. When reporters asked about the incident, the president said, “they were doing a check on the slide,” adding that the process “takes about 15 minutes.”
Asked whether he was sure the aircraft was safe to fly, Trump replied, “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.”
Qatari-Gifted Jet Has Faced Security Questions
The new Air Force One is a $400 million Boeing 747-8 gifted to Trump by Qatar’s royal family last year. Following Pentagon-led modifications, the aircraft was rushed into presidential service this summer as a temporary replacement for the aging aircraft traditionally used to transport the president.
Trump made his first flight aboard the aircraft in July.
The plane has faced questions over its security. In July, Trump switched aircraft while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey after US officials received intelligence about a potential Iranian assassination threat.
According to The New York Times, the Secret Service had urged Trump not to use the new aircraft for the departure from Turkey, with sources saying it lacked certain security features present on the older Air Force One.
A White House spokesperson disputed those concerns, saying the new Air Force One was a “state-of-the-art aircraft” fitted with “high-level security protocols” to ensure the safety of the president and his staff.
It was later reported that, as part of a covert security operation, Trump was moved into a catering cart and secretly flown out of Turkey on a different military aircraft while other staffers and reporters remained aboard the older Air Force One.
After the July trip, Trump said the $400 million aircraft would be taken out of service and “maxed out” with additional security upgrades.
However, a senior White House official said Trump planned to use the Qatari-gifted jet for his trip to Ireland on September 12.