The Secret Service’s elaborate plan to safeguard President Donald Trump due to an increased threat landscape following U.S. strikes on Iran last month meant flying him out of Turkey on the type of plane that the vice president, first lady, and Cabinet officials generally use.
Trump flew to last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on the Qatari-gifted VC-25B, which is based on the Boeing 747-8. During his departure, he walked up the steps of the old Air Force One, known as the VC-25A, but, unbeknownst to the public at the time, the president stepped off the VC-25A and hopped aboard a C-32A aircraft, according to the Washington Post.
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The 1st Airlift Squadron, 89th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, often transports the vice president on the C-32, using the call sign “Air Force Two” when doing so. The first lady, and members of the Cabinet and Congress also frequently fly on the C-32 fleet, which is the military version of the Boeing 757-200.
The passenger cabin of the C-32 is divided into four sections: a communications center, galley, lavatory, and 10 business class seats; a fully-enclosed stateroom for the primary passenger that includes a changing area, private bathroom, separate entertainment system, and a convertible divan that folds out into a bed; a conference room with eight business class seats; and the rear section of the aircraft is general seating and it has 32 business-class seats.
The older Air Force One is longer, taller, and has a larger wingspan than the C-32, which Trump flew from Ankara to the United Kingdom. It also has a longer range, can go faster, and has a higher flight ceiling.
The Pentagon announced in May 2025 that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 gift from Qatar and that the department would retrofit it to ensure it meets the requirements to transport the president.
The Air Force acknowledged in June of this year, a little more than a year later, that the new VC-25B from Qatar had arrived at the Presidential Airlift Group, where it would begin commissioning flights, which are like final exams for the aircraft modifications.
“The aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission,” the Air Force said in a statement at the time. “Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed. No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”
While he was in Turkey, Trump said he would use the “former Air Force One” to travel home rather than the one he had flown on to Ankara, so that he could give U.S. troops in the U.K. the opportunity to “tour the Aircraft.”
On the older Air Force One, during the flight from Turkey to the U.K., reporters were told to keep their blinds pulled shut and were not given an explanation as to why.
In the U.K., Trump got on the older Air Force One aircraft and briefly took questions from reporters, but he declined to share that he hadn’t been on the flight with them. When he was asked why they had been told to lower the shades, Trump said it was “because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with.”
With continued questions about the defensive capabilities of the newly outfitted Air Force One, Trump acknowledged on July 20, “they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out,” an apparent acknowledgment that it does not have all the same capabilities as previous Air Force Ones. He did not specify what capabilities would be added to the aircraft.
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The new Qatari plane does not appear to have some defensive systems, parts of which are visible under the wings and tails of older Air Force One planes and are designed to defeat heat-seeking missiles, the New York Times reported.
The gifted aircraft is meant to serve as a “bridge” to relieve pressure on the VC-25A fleet, which has been in service for more than 35 years, until the two long-term VC-25Bs enter service.
