Trump ‘Embarrassed’ Over Last-Minute Air Force One Swap
President Donald Trump was reportedly left feeling embarrassed after having to change planes on his way home from the NATO Summit in Turkey.
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MS NOW’s Carol Leonnig reported that the president was forced to swap out his new Air Force One on Wednesday, a gift from the Qatari government, due to security concerns about the aircraft’s capabilities.
According to two former national security officials familiar with the matter, the gifted Air Force One lacks the secure communications systems and military defenses needed to safely manage conflict, which was of particular concern as the fragile ceasefire deal with Iran rapidly degraded this week.
Some of the capabilities absent on the new jet include the ability to refuel mid-air and missile-defense systems.
The MS NOW report explains that a chief concern was the lack of command-and-control functions that turn Air Force One into a “flying situation room” that allows the president to receive classified intelligence briefings, communicate securely, and issue orders to military officers around the world, according to two other former security officials.
As a result, the president flew from Turkey to a U.S. base in the U.K. in his original Air Force One, a Boeing VC-25A, initiating additional strikes against Iran while on board. The original Air Force One is a military plane from the 1990s and has the features the Qatari-gifted jet lacks. He then switched to the new jet, a Boeing 747-8.
The president had publicly claimed that he was using the old jet so that U.S. troops in England could “tour” the new one.
“This plane was built for aesthetics, not mission,” one former national security official told MS NOW, adding, “We know about its paint, its leather seats. But we don’t know its capabilities.”
The $400 million gifted aircraft boasts three lounges, two bedrooms, nine bathrooms, five galleys, a private office, and enough business class seating to accommodate dozens of guests.
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Leonnig revealed on Thursday that the president was “embarrassed” by having to switch planes, telling Katy Tur, “The Secret Service source who I spoke to last night said, this is dancing on the head of a pin in a way, because the Service wants Donald Trump to be happy.”
“They do not want to embarrass him, but they do not want him to be in danger, which is a worse sort of fate for them, if you will.”
“The Secret Service knows, top, top officials in the Secret Service know, according to my source, that the president is embarrassed by the idea of having to switch out this plane, which is part of the reason he apparently sort of made up a story about showing it off to troops in the U.K., and they are trying to placate a person who has insisted this plane is perfect and they are trying to, you know, no, sorry to put finer words on this, but they’re trying to save his life and save the stability of the democracy at the same time.”
The White House was quick to shut down Leonnig’s reporting, with White House Communications Director lashing out on X.
“Carol Leonnig is a liar and this article is complete Fake News. She has no idea what she is talking about,” he wrote. “Carol is not a real journalist. A complete fraud.”
When contacted for comment by the Daily Beast, Steven Cheung said, “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff. As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal— including distraction and misdirection— to address those threats.”
The Air Force has previously said of the plane, “The aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission. Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.”
“No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”
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MS NOW told The Daily Beast that the network stands by its reporting.
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