TRUMP PLANS FLIGHT ON QATARI 747
PHOTO CAPTION: A U.S. Air Force VC-25B Bridge aircraft flies with two F-35A Lightning IIs near Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Aug. 23, 2026. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Christopher Guerra)
President Donald Trump plans to fly to Ireland next week aboard the Boeing 747 donated by Qatar, even though additional security upgrades he previously said would be made to the aircraft have not yet taken place, according to The Washington Post.
The trip would mark Trump’s first international flight aboard the aircraft since a security threat in July led officials to move him onto a different plane for his departure from Turkey.
Trump said after that episode that the newer aircraft would be taken out of service and receive additional security work. The White House has not publicly announced a schedule for those upgrades, and The Post reported that the work could now be delayed until later this fall.
A senior administration official declined to discuss specific modifications but said the government maintains a safe, secure and reliable presidential airlift capability and routinely changes that capability as needed.
The Air Force has also publicly defended the aircraft’s existing security. When the VC-25B Bridge arrived at Joint Base Andrews in June, the service described it as a secure, modified executive platform that had been engineered around safety, secure communications and presidential mission requirements.
The Air Force said at the time that the aircraft was equipped with the technology needed for the presidential mission and that officials had developed protocols to identify and neutralize potential technical hazards associated with the previously owned jet.
Questions intensified in July after Trump traveled to a NATO summit in Turkey aboard the aircraft. U.S. officials received intelligence about a potential Iranian threat, and Trump ultimately left Turkey aboard an Air Force C-32A instead.
The Washington Post reported that Trump was moved to the alternate aircraft without the normal traveling press pool after first boarding another presidential aircraft in view of cameras.
Trump subsequently said the Qatari aircraft would receive additional security improvements.
The United States has already spent approximately $400 million retrofitting the Boeing 747, according to The Post. The administration has not disclosed what additional modifications would cost.
The aircraft was donated by Qatar as the administration sought an interim solution while Boeing continues work on the long-delayed permanent replacements for the aging VC-25A fleet.
Trump is expected to travel to Ireland next weekend for the Irish Open at his golf resort in Doonbeg while also holding official meetings.
If the trip proceeds as planned aboard the Qatari-donated aircraft, it will put the VC-25B Bridge back into international presidential service before the additional round of security work Trump previously said it would receive.
Source: The Washington Post; U.S. Air Force
