Day: July 24, 2026

The New York Times, citing multiple people briefed on the matter, reports that President Donald J. Trump switched from the Qatari donated Boeing 747-8 to the legacy Air Force One during the NATO summit after the Secret Service received what officials deemed a credible threat that Iranian proxy forces were targeting the president and whatever aircraft he was traveling aboard.

The Qatari donated 747-8 is currently serving as the VC-25B “Bridge” aircraft, a temporary presidential transport intended to fill the gap until Boeing delivers the long delayed next generation VC-25B fleet. According to the report, the threat was not specific to the aircraft itself, but the incident has renewed scrutiny over its defensive capabilities, as it lacks some of the advanced defensive systems carried by the current VC-25A and future VC-25B fleets.

President Trump appeared to acknowledge those limitations earlier this week when, after being asked about the aircraft’s lack of antimissile defenses, he told reporters the jet would soon be taken out of service to be “maxed out” with additional upgrades, a process that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed would take approximately one month.

Source:  nytimes.com/2026/07/24/us/po…

— @sentdefender Jul 24, 2026