President Donald Trump’s press secretary made an off-the-cuff joke about a Qatari jet as Air Force One was forced to return to America mid-air on Tuesday night.
According to the White House press pool, Karoline Leavitt said a Qatari jet sounded “much better” than Air Force One after Trump’s trip to Switzerland was delayed due to an electrical fault that caused the flight to turn around less than an hour after departure.
“After takeoff, the AF1 crew identified a minor electrical issue,” the White House said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, AF1 is returning to Joint Base Andrews. The President and team will board a different aircraft and continue on to Switzerland.”
Media on the original flight said the lights in the press cabin went out briefly after takeoff, with no explanation offered.
Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, and Trump is expected to catch another flight.
It is the first time Trump has attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in person since 2020.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Last May, Trump revealed he will accept a Qatari jumbo jet to serve as a new, improved Air Force One that reportedly costs $400 million.
It was donated by Qatar as an “unconditional” gift, with Trump suggesting he did not want to turn down a “free plane.”
At the time, Trump said he did not know the cost of retrofitting the 13-year-old plane, saying, “That’s up to the military.”
Despite backlash over the optics of the gifted plane, the White House has insisted it is legal to take the gift, and that it will be donated to Trump’s presidential library when his term is over.
CNN aviation expert Peter Goelz said the current Air Force One plane is now around 30 to 40 years old which could explain an electrical flaw.
“They have been flown heavily now,” Goelz said. “They’ve been well maintained, but planes get older, particularly wiring gets brittle. It’s not unusual for older planes like this to run into trouble.”
He added, “This will certainly put pressure on Boeing to produce the new 747-800 Air Force Ones and it will put pressure to move the gifted 747-800 from Qatar online quicker.”
Goelz said Boeing are already 18 months past their deadline. “My guess is we’re not going to see the new Air Force One before the end of Trump’s term, so they’re really going to have to double down and get production going, because this is going to be quite infuriating to this president.”
Prior to leaving for Switzerland, the 79-year-old marked the first anniversary of his second term in office with a 104-minute marathon news conference on Tuesday that included wielding a book of his “accomplishments.”
During the appearance, Trump waved mugshots of people arrested by ICE and bragged that the father of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by an ICE agent this month, was a “fan” of his. He also admitted he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Trump, but said “I thought I would be killed if I did that.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
