New Air Force One lacks key defenses, officials say

The Secret Service told Donald Trump to leave Ankara on the older Air Force One on July 9, 2026, rather than the newly donated and retrofitted Boeing 747-8 from Qatar. The newer plane had carried Trump to Turkey, but officials chose the older aircraft for the return flight as war with Iran increased the risks around presidential travel.

The older presidential jet carries secure communications and sophisticated military defenses, including laser technology designed to help blind or misdirect an incoming missile. U.S. officials said the newer plane was hurried into service and is still missing some desired capabilities, while the White House defended its safety. Turning a donor aircraft into a safe presidential platform normally takes years, extensive modification and enough money to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The work has to account for threats ranging from missile defense to sweeping the plane for bugs and other spy devices. In May 2025, specialists said accepting a Qatari-donated 747-8 would create technical, security and cost problems, and one former senior defense official called the idea of making it safe with only a few modifications "absurd."

The Air Force first announced in 2015 that two Boeing 747-8s would become the next Air Force Ones, but the VC-25B program slipped from an expected 2024 delivery to projections of 2028 or 2029. An Air Force official said in 2025 that delivery could potentially be pulled in to 2027 if requirements were changed.

A group of 13 Democratic senators sent a July 7 letter to the Air Force and L3Harris pressing for answers about the bridge aircraft conversion, saying they had been "stonewalled" on details. They said the work had been compressed into roughly 10 months to satisfy Trump’s demand for the plane during Independence Day festivities and asked whether resources had been diverted from other national-security priorities. They requested written answers by July 27.