Trump Switches Back To Qatari Plane After Leaving Turkey On Old Air Force One

[hookaleft]

snip>

Trump left Ankara, Turkey, on the old Air Force One jet after flying there on the Boeing 747 gifted to the U.S. by Qatar last year.

Trump told reporters in Turkey and said on Truth Social that he was flying home on the old plane because the Qatari jet was headed to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. Air Force base in Suffolk, England, and “two or three” other bases in Europe so service members could tour the aircraft, calling the detour to England a “short trip.”

According to the New York Times, Trump’s departure from Ankara—where he attended a NATO Summit—was done quickly, and passengers on board were asked to close their window shades before takeoff.

The old jet carrying the president arrived at the British Air Force Base RAF Mildenhall—which also houses U.S. Air Force jets—before switching back to the new jet for the final leg of the journey to Washington.

snip>

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/07/09/trump-switches-back-to-qatari-plane-after-leaving-turkey-on-old-air-force-one/

[rampartd]

1. think they might be playing a shell game?

look out for trump look alikes as well.

[Marie Marie]

2. I will pray for anyone who looks like Trump...

[rampartd]

3. i've already confessed praying for that

[viva la]

4. Incompetence riddles this administration.

[Turbineguy]

5. This way taxpayers

take a double hit on expenses.

One of the rules of war is to force your enemy (that would be us), to absorb huge costs.

[Disaffected]

6. So the "tour" was just a ruse?

What a comic opera (or it would be if it was funny).

[Bluetus]

11. I don't think that's the point.

Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2026, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Obviously this has nothing to do with any troops getting a guided tour. The media will never identify any soldier that got such a tour.

And it is probably not about a maintenance requirement, although could be. Possibly something minor they needed to fix at the base in the UK.

IMHO, it is most likely that in the rush to put Trump's ass on a golden toilet at 40,000 feet, they left out some security counter-measures. And in the course of this Turkey trip, they picked up intelligence that made them think the grift plane could be attacked.

[hookaleft]

13. I saw a video on Adam Kinzinger's substack today

RE: Air Force One's return flight. and he said that the passengers who were on the plane had to keep their window shades down during the flight and that transponders were turned off. I don't know how he knew that.

[Bluetus]

14. I bet the window shades down are SOP for every AF1 flight.

[Disaffected]

15. "Obviously this has nothing to do with any troops getting a guided tour."

Yeah, that's why it was a ruse.

[Rebl2]

7. So he lied

Big surprise 🙄

[Blue Owl]

8. So the drowsy diaper-dwelling pedophile thinks he deserves two 747s to haul his fat ass around, eh?

[Prairie Gates]

9. Trump very spooked

They did not want to fly out of Ankara on that jet, period.

Maybe its defense systems are weak or not modernized. It sounds like they were a little spooked of leaving Ankara even in the old AF1, which surely has all the needed anti-missile and anti-drone technologies. This is actually kind of crazy.

I think the whole Trump admin was spooked by Khamenei's funeral.

[purr-rat beauty]

10. Just some more Fraud Waste Abuse

Anytime a rescumlican complains about our fiscal situation, I think we have a strong counterpoint

The deficit is going to balloon thanks to the GOP

ASSHOLES

[allegorical oracle]

12. Past AF-1 planes were painted sky blue on the underparts. They were more difficult to

see from the ground. This new jet is not only painted dark blue underneath, but is larger.

A wag, yesterday, suggested that his new jet may be an easier target.

[Grolph_]

17. Dark Blue would be visible from everywhere along the flight path. What a fool.

I wonder if the longer airframe can perform the high attitude take-off.
Heard it was the no-frills version ideal for short flights around the mideast.

[hamsterjill]

16. He probably threw a bunch of ketchup bottles when he realized he was going to have to pay E. Jean Carroll.

And it takes a while to clean it up.

Whatever the reason for all of this, we know the reason is NOT what they say is the reason. It's like I saw posted elsewhere earlier today: If you need a distraction from the distraction, you create a distraction.