President Donald Trump had been eagerly awaiting his trip to Texas for Republicans’ unusual midterm convention. But his new Air Force One had other ideas, at least for a short time.
The President arrived at Joint Base Andrews via Marine One for his scheduled departure to Dallas. But he was held on the helicopter for about 15 minutes as US Air Force personnel attended to Air Force One, and an inflatable emergency slide was deployed from the front right exit, across the plane from the door Trump typically uses.
As Trump arrived at the base, the old blue-and-white presidential aircraft was seen moving from its hangar onto the tarmac a few hundred yards behind the new plane that Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari government and had refurbished and painted red, white, blue, and gold. The older plane's front and rear steps were put in place, signalling the possibility that it would have to be used for Trump's Texas trip.
Eventually, Trump emerged from Marine One and said the slide on the new plane was being tested.
“They want to make sure everything works perfectly,” the President said of the jetliner that Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari government and had refurbished.
It was not immediately clear whether the slide was intentionally inflated for testing or whether it was an error that had to be assessed and corrected. But Trump said he was not worried. Asked whether he was satisfied that the plane was safe, he said, “Yeah, I am — or I wouldn't be on it”.
Trump boarded shortly after as the crew continued to work. They appeared eventually to deflate, detach and cart away the deployed slide.
Air Force One, the designation for whatever aircraft carries a sitting president, took off for Dallas shortly after.
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