U.S. President Donald Trump, who previously avoided using the new presidential aircraft donated by Qatar—even staging a covert plane swap for security reasons following assassination threats from Iran—has announced he will use the new Air Force One for an upcoming overseas trip, drawing attention to the reasons behind his decision.
U.S. media outlets, including The Washington Post, reported that President Trump plans to use the new Air Force One, gifted to the U.S. government by Qatar, for his scheduled two-day visit to Ireland starting on the 12th.
President Trump previously used the new Air Force One for his first overseas trip in July, flying to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit, but he did not board the aircraft for his return trip home from Ankara.
The reason was intelligence regarding a terror assassination threat from Iran, compounded by the fact that the new Air Force One lacked advanced missile defense capabilities.
It was later revealed that he instead publicly boarded the older Air Force One to be filmed by the press, only to secretly slip away and travel via an Air Force transport plane.
While there had been projections that security upgrade work for the new Air Force One would take place this autumn, no specific schedule has been released yet.
President Trump is reportedly fond of the new Air Force One despite the security concerns.
Amid a recent resurgence in military tensions—with the U.S. resuming strikes against Iran and Iran attempting retaliatory attacks on a U.S. military base in Jordan—local media outlets project that President Trump will make more frequent use of the new presidential aircraft within the United States ahead of the midterm elections.
(Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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