PART TWO: Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One 25JUL26

THIS is a report again exposing the narcissism, greed, corruption, and ignorance of the drippings NOT MY president donnie jessica drumpf/trump. From the New York Times

 Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One

A New York Times investigation found that President Trump’s push to speed delivery of the aircraft led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features.

By Eric LiptonTyler Pager and Maggie Haberman

Eric Lipton is an investigative reporter. Tyler Pager and Maggie Haberman cover the White House.

July 25, 2026

Documents examined by The Times show other features were also left out.

For decades, Air Force One has allowed the president to arrive at and depart any airport without having to rely on standard ground equipment.

The plane has had a lower side door with self-contained stairs, which is easier to protect. Mr. Trump used that entrance while boarding the old Air Force One last October after the Secret Service discovered what it suspected was a hunter’s stand hidden at the edge of the Palm Beach, Fla., airport.

Mr. Bush also used the lower stairs on Sept. 11, 2001, when he landed unexpectedly at an Air Force base in Louisiana, with military personnel armed with machine guns helping guard him.

But the retrofitted Qatari jet has no such entrance or a similar rear door with self-contained stairs, according to experts who examined photographs of the plane for The Times.

Administration officials did not dispute that. There was a “reduction of the number of airstairs” for autonomous entry and exit, a Pentagon official told The Times.

Old Air Force One

Lower entryway

door with

retractable

stairs

Photo by Eric Lee/The New York Times

Lower

entryway

door

Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times

Qatari-donated jet

Unpainted

No lower

entryway

Photo by U.S. Air Force

With presidential paint

No lower

entryway

Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times

Arfa Momin/The New York Times

Photographs of the retrofitted Qatari jet also do not show the infrared countermeasures systems that are installed near the engines of the old Air Force One and documented in the schematics prepared for emergency responders.

Such infrared devices are designed to detect any approaching missile threats, start immediately tracking them and send a high-intensity laser beam into the approaching missile to disrupt its approach, according to one manufacturer.

It is unclear what other self-defense technology may have been added to the Qatari-donated jet. The administration declined to address its security capabilities. A White House official called it “secure and well-protected” and said that officials were always looking for ways to modernize air defense systems.

The Air Force One jets are also supposed to have two auxiliary power units designed to provide electricity if there is a power disruption, even while the plane is in flight.

Only one of these units is visible on the new plane, while two are visible on the old Air Force One. A federal official confirmed that the second unit was not installed on the Qatari jet; the White House did not dispute it was absent.

Having two of these devices also allows Air Force One to start all four engines faster if the plane needs to depart quickly, according to people familiar with the 747 jets. That is because the auxiliary power units supply compressed air needed to start the jet engines.

It is unclear how L3Harris or the Air Force addressed a separate issue that has plagued the Boeing jets: cracks in longitudinal rods that stiffen and support the fuselage skin.

PART THREE: Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One 25JUL26