A last-minute itinerary change for President Trump on his return trip from Turkey last night. He left the country in an older version Air Force One.
Sources say the Secret Service urged the president not to leave on the newer jet, a gift from Qatar, because of the escalation with Iran.
KDKA's Marty Griffin asked Congressman Mike Kelly about that:
“They had some type of information that came to them that said ‘listen, don’t get on this plane, let’s get old Air Force One out, get it up and running, let’s put him on that plane, we feel more secure with that plane than we do with the plane he flew over in,” said Rep. Kelly.
Reports also say the change in planes was influenced in part by differences in their security capabilities.
Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake,” and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the United States at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops.
The travel switch raised fresh security questions about the new aircraft that the U.S. spent $400 million to retrofit. Images of the Qatari-gifted jet captured since its unveiling show it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.
