Air Force One swap was ‘distraction and misdirection’ to keep Trump safe: White House

NY Post ^ | July 9, 2026 | Caitlin Doornbos

[McGruff]

The White House on Thursday claimed President Trump’s switch from the new Qatari-donated Air Force One to the original presidential plane on his flight home from Turkey Wednesday was a strategic “distraction” to keep the commander-in-chief safe.

Denying that any physical security factors led to the swap out, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the new jet “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,” Cheung said in a statement.

...reporters on board the Qatari — which took a detour to the United Kingdom for troops to tour — were asked to close their window blinds for the entire flight, suggesting there was some attempt to obscure just who, exactly, was on board.

[BenLurkin]

Nope.

[lee martell]

Something big was going on, or the Secret Service thought something had been compromised.
I’m glad the president chose to listen to his Agents in this instance.

[Carry_Okie]

I’d bet that beast has a LOT of flares on board.

[TornadoAlley3]

SS should be more alert - especially during Trump's interactions with the press and officials in the Oval Office. TDS sufferers.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Of course it was. 🙄

[1Old Pro]

reporters on board the Qatari — which took a detour to the United Kingdom for troops to tour — were asked to close their window blinds for the entire flight, suggesting there was some attempt to obscure just who, exactly, was on board.

So the plane was a potential target and they filled it with reporters......LOL

[Avalon Memories]

The UK allows those interested in planes, both military and civilian, to take photos and videos from outside the perimeter of airports. I watched a YT video from RAF Mildenhall of the new AF1 plane arrive there. It got refueled and some kind of inspection or maintenance was done on the right inboard engine. They put a ladder up to the engine and a US Air Force maintenance worker stepped up into what looked like the cowling. He stayed for a few minutes before stepping down the ladder. There were Air Force and Secret Service personnel on the ground around the plane.

I know nothing about planes, so can't explain what was going on. Is it possible there was a concern about that engine? Or might that just have been a routine check?

[eyeamok]

That’s pretty funny!!

[MeanWestTexan]

That way, the only humans at risk were the crew!

[volare737]

Likely just a routine check, i.e. maybe looking for an oil, fuel, or hydraulic leak. If there was a problem, he (and probably others) would have been back.

[George from New England]

Likely a Qatar data backdoor in the planes computers

[gibsonguy]

Cute how they used the word “claimed”.

[suthener]

I was watching this periodically on Flightradar24. I saw something I thought was strange; the “Doomsday Plane” flew out of Sicily at around the same time Trump was supposed to leave Turkey. It flew with two Stratotankers. Southwest of England they met up with two more Stratotankers and the Stratotankers started flying loops, which I believe indicates they were refueling fighter escorts. Then the tankers flew away in different directions and the Doomsday Plane continued on across the Atlantic. I wondered at the time if they had smuggled Trump onto the Doomsday plane but apparently they did not.

[hal ogen]

They have learned nothing. Bomb them into the stone age.