Trump to use Qatari gift plane for international trip despite security concerns

President Donald Trump plans to fly to Ireland next week on the Boeing 747 donated by Qatar, despite concerns over its security and unfinished upgrades, a senior White House official told the Washington Post.

The trip will mark Trump’s first international journey on the Qatari jet since U.S. officials secretly moved him to another plane during his return from July’s NATO summit in Turkey after intelligence indicated a potential Iranian threat.

“We don’t comment on specific upgrades or modifications to Air Force One,” a senior administration official told the Post. “We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture.”

The decision comes after Trump said in July that the $400 million aircraft would be taken out of service and “maxed out” with additional security upgrades.

The White House said at the time that the work would begin in the fall and take about a month, but officials have not announced when the modifications will begin. The work could be delayed until after the November midterm elections, according to the Post.

The Qatari plane was rushed into presidential service this summer as a temporary replacement for the aging aircraft that traditionally serve as Air Force One. It has undergone hundreds of millions of dollars in modifications, but security experts and officials have raised questions about whether it has all of the sophisticated defensive capabilities found on the older presidential aircraft.
Those older planes have advanced systems designed to protect the president from threats including missiles and other attacks. The Qatari jet was reportedly missing some of those defensive countermeasures when Trump began using it.