Trump Says Qatari-Donated Air Force One Will Get Security Upgrades Next Month

President Trump says the Qatari-donated Boeing 747 now serving as Air Force One will be sent away for a month of additional upgrades, after questions surfaced about whether the plane's hurried refit left it with weaker defenses than the aircraft it's replacing.

Trump made the comments on Sunday, returning from the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey, when he was asked directly whether the plane lacks missile-defense capabilities. "It has a lot of capability," Trump said. "But as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're gonna send it to have it be maxed out. It'll take about a month."

He did not say what specific systems are being added or upgraded. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Air Force Times.

The Timeline So Far

Trump started flying on the Qatari jet on July 1, after accepting it as a gift last year and fast-tracking its conversion for presidential use. Defense contractor L3Harris Technologies handled the refit, choosing the red, white, dark blue and gold livery Trump wanted.

That speed is exactly what raised eyebrows. This one moved fast enough that outside experts flagged concerns the plane might not match the security standard of the older baby-blue Air Force One still in the fleet.

Trump himself seemed to underline the doubt on July 8. Flying from Turkey to the United Kingdom amid rising tension with Iran, he abruptly switched to the older jet, calling it a move "for old time's sake." He returned to the U.S. on the new plane. Whatever the stated reason, the timing during a tense moment with Iran invited an obvious question: was the new plane not trusted for that leg?

The jet is meant to be a stopgap. Boeing is under a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract signed in 2018 to build two purpose-built 747-8s as the actual next-generation Air Force One. That program is four years behind schedule and over budget, with delivery expected in mid-2028. The Qatari plane is filling the gap until then.

The Legitimate Concern

There's a real security question here, not just a political one. Air Force One isn't just a plane, it's a flying command post built to withstand things a commercial 747 was never designed for. A rushed conversion, done to get a usable jet in the air fast, is a reasonable thing to scrutinize regardless of who's in office or which country donated the aircraft.

Critics who raised cost and propriety questions about accepting a foreign government's jet as a personal gift for presidential use also have a fair point on principle. An aircraft donated by Qatar carries obvious optics problems, separate entirely from whatever security upgrades it needs.

Neither of those concerns has been resolved by Trump's comments. Trump asserted the plane "has a lot of capability" without specifying what that means technically, and gave no detail on what "maxed out" upgrades will actually add. That's not proof the plane is unsafe. It's also not proof it isn't. The Air Force hasn't confirmed a timeline, a scope of work, or a cost for the additional upgrades.

The Subpoena Fight

Separately, New York Times journalists who reported on the new plane's security features were subpoenaed this month to appear before a grand jury in Manhattan federal court. The Times has asked the court to block those orders.

That's a significant escalation on its own. Using federal grand jury subpoenas against reporters covering a sitting president's aircraft security raises questions that exist independent of whether the plane itself has any real vulnerabilities.

What happens next: the plane is expected to go in for the month-long upgrade in the coming weeks, per Trump's own timeline. Whether the Air Force releases any details about what's being changed, and whether the Manhattan federal court rules on the Times' subpoena challenge, are the two open threads worth watching.