By TRH World Desk
CNN’s Maggie Haberman says the unusual mid-trip aircraft switch raises questions about whether the Qatar-donated presidential jet is fully equipped with Air Force One-level defensive systems.
New Delhi, July 9, 2026 — US President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Qatar-donated presidential aircraft midway through his overseas trip and return to Washington aboard the older Air Force One has sparked fresh questions about the new jet’s security capabilities, with veteran White House reporter Maggie Haberman suggesting the unusual move may have been driven by safety concerns rather than logistics.
Speaking on CNN, Haberman said the aircraft switch was difficult to explain by the White House’s public account that the newer aircraft had merely been sent ahead for military personnel to tour.
“It’s a little hard to believe that this is the only reason,” Haberman said, noting that Trump has repeatedly praised the Qatar-gifted aircraft while criticizing the decades-old Air Force One as outdated and embarrassing for presidential travel.
According to Haberman, journalists from The New York Times covering Trump’s visit to Turkey reported that the US Secret Service had concerns about the aircraft’s security, although she stressed that the reporting was still developing and declined to overstate its conclusions.
“The reporting… raises questions about what exactly this new Air Force One… is equipped with in terms of the kind of defence systems that the current Air Force One has,” she told CNN.
The aircraft, donated by Qatar and rapidly modified for presidential use, has been at the center of political and security debate since Trump pushed to begin flying it before Boeing delivers the long-delayed next-generation Air Force One fleet.
Haberman recalled that when she and fellow journalist Jonathan Swan first reported that the administration was considering the Qatari aircraft, numerous aviation and national security experts questioned whether it could be fully retrofitted with the sophisticated communications, electronic warfare and missile-defence systems normally installed aboard Air Force One within such a short period.
“Lots of people told us they could not imagine a scenario where it could properly be fitted with its defence capabilities in time to protect a president,” Haberman said.
Another detail that caught Haberman’s attention was a pool report stating that reporters aboard Trump’s return flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom were instructed to keep their window shades down.
She said such restrictions have historically been associated with flights into conflict zones, including presidential visits to Iraq during wartime.
Trump later denied there had been any specific threat but also referred to “bad people” when discussing security, comments Haberman described as sending mixed signals.
“I have to assume the reporting that there was a concern for safety is correct,” she said, while acknowledging that security agencies would not publicly disclose operational threats in real time.
Haberman also argued that the administration has provided inconsistent public messaging about developments linked to the broader Middle East conflict, saying important military incidents have often become public only after media reporting.
“The public has a right to understand exactly what is happening,” she said, while recognizing that certain operational details surrounding presidential security cannot always be disclosed immediately.
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