During an informal conversation aboard the presidential aircraft, the president responded sarcastically to questions about his security, stating that he is not aware of any specific and credible threat against Air Force One, although he acknowledged his personal vulnerability: "I am number one on their list before you are", he retorted to a reporter.
This exchange of statements comes at a time of heightened alert, coinciding with Trump's participation in the NATO leaders' summit in Turkey, a country that shares a border with Iran and where hostilities have recently escalated. In a move that has raised suspicions about the reliability of its protection systems, the president announced a last-minute change of plans on Wednesday: he will leave Turkish territory aboard the old Air Force One, relegating the new and controversial presidential plane donated by the royal family of Qatar to a secondary role.
Although Trump officially justified this change citing reasons of "nostalgia" for his flight to RAF Mildenhall airbase in the United Kingdom, the decision has reignited criticism of the new aircraft. The Qatari plane has been embroiled in controversy since its introduction due to the high costs of adaptation to U.S. safety standards and doubts about its technical reliability. While the Democratic opposition has not hesitated to label this aircraft as a "bribe", the president insists on its suitability, even announcing that, at the end of his term, he will keep it to display in his future presidential library in Miami.
The mistrust in air security is heightened by the regional conflict context. Despite official denials of direct threats to the flight, the return to the veteran Boeing 747-200B, used by the presidency since the 90s, suggests a search for proven reliability in contrast to the uncertainty surrounding the Qatari model in such a sensitive airspace as that near Iran.