Trump Taking Qatari Air Force One To Ireland Before Security Fix

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) US President Donald Trump said Friday he would take the new Air Force One on its first foreign trip since a security scare in Turkey, leaving a security upgrade to the Qatari-gifted jet for next month.

Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that he would be taking the jet donated by Qatar's royal family on a trip to Ireland next week despite the security concerns.

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Asked if the jet would still be getting extra security measures as he had announced in July, Trump said: "It's gonna be maxed out. Yeah, it's going to go away, and it's a magnificent plane."

"It has a lot of stuff, but to max it out, meaning you can go into any territory, it'll take about 60 days, and it's being sent in October to be maxed out," Trump told reporters.

But Trump's timescale for the modifications has doubled from the month that he had previously said it would take when he first mentioned them on July 19.

The White House declined to comment on the upgrades.

"We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture," a senior administration official told AFP.

"It is the greatest presidential plane ever built."

Trump's visit to Ireland

Trump is expected to make a fleeting visit to Dublin and then his family's golf course in Doonbeg, western Ireland, for the Irish Open.

Qatar gave the luxury Boeing 747 jet to the United States in 2025, after Trump complained about the ageing current presidential planes and delays to the delivery of their planned replacements.

Critics raised a host of concerns about taking such a lavish gift from a foreign power.

The new plane was retrofitted by the US military before entering service with Trump at the end of June, when he called it the "world's most luxurious plane" and a "flying White House".

Trump, meanwhile, said that he expected the Qatari jet to go to his planned presidential museum when he leaves office in 2029. But he left some room for doubt.

Boeing has said it expects to deliver the first of two purpose-built new Air Force Ones in 2028, several years behind schedule.

"I haven't made a decision, but it will probably go to the museum. It's scheduled to go to the museum," Trump told reporters.

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