Trump’s new Air Force One grounded, as jet donated by Qatar goes for ‘upgrades’ | US News

Donald Trump’s new Air Force One jet will undergo “upgrades and enhancements”, the White House has said, amid reports of security concerns about the aircraft.

In a statement, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Donald Trump would return to an older Air Force One jet for about a month, but insisted the new Boeing 747-8 – a present from Qatar – is “perfectly safe”.

Mr Trump had earlier told reporters that the aircraft valued at close to $400m (£298.5m), was being sent to be “maxed out”.

It comes after several New York Times journalists were summoned to testify under oath by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) after they reported on security concerns involving the plane.

The newspaper, citing anonymous sources, claimed the new jet lacked some of the advanced features of the older aircraft, including anti-missile capabilities.

Speculation was further fuelled after Mr Trump, who had used the latest plane for the outbound journey, departed a NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month on an older Air Force One jet.

He swapped back onto the new aircraft at Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base in Suffolk, England, claiming the stop was so US troops could look at the plane.

However, Mr Trump denied that the jet switch was due to security concerns, although he also claimed he has threats against him “all the time” and that he is Iran’s “No. 1” target.

Share

Trump arrives in Turkey on new Air Force One

‘War on the press’

Mr Trump’s legal move against the New York Times marked a dramatic escalation of his campaign against the media.

The newspaper said that federal agents had delivered some subpoenas – legal documents ordering someone to appear in court – to the reporters’ homes.

It also said that prior to its first story being published, a senior official at the FBI contacted a reporter and editor to ask that the article be held, referencing national security issues.

Read more from Sky News:
Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to UK
Usha and JD Vance announce birth of fourth child

The paper said that the FBI official declined to elaborate on the issue, but asked it to disclose its sources for the story, which it said it refused to do.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” a lawyer for the New York Times, David McCraw, said in a statement.

The DOJ said that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are”.

The department acknowledged that “there may always be natural tension there”, but insisted “we are not going to ignore the law and stop investigating the people who work in the administration and think it’s okay to leak classified information impacting national security”.