Key Background
Concerns about the safety of the new Qatar-gifted jet first emerged during its international debut as the new Air Force One earlier this month. Trump had flown on board the plane to attend a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, but he flew the first half of his return leg from Ankara to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. Air Force base in Suffolk, England, on board the new Air Force One. While the president insisted that the switch was done to allow U.S. service members stationed at the base “a chance to tour the Aircraft,” reports suggested that it was done at the request of the Secret Service amid a renewed conflict with Iran. While flying back from Ankara, Trump was asked if he was aware of “any credible threat by Iran to Air Force One.” The president told the reporter, “Well, I have a threat all the time. I’m number one on their list, before you. But if I go, you go…Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”
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