JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump says the newest plane to serve as Air Force One is about to get, quote, "maxed out." The White House said today that the Boeing luxury jet, which was donated last year by Qatar, will be taken out of service for upgrades. And that's renewing questions about the security features of the plane and whether it's on the level of previous jets that served as Air Force One. NPR's Joel Rose has been following this and is with us now. Hey.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Hey there.
SUMMERS: So, Joel, do we know what the president means when he says maxed out?
ROSE: Not exactly. President Trump flew back to Washington on the new Air Force One on Sunday evening. He was asked by a reporter why he was flying in an airplane that lacks antimissile defense systems. Here is how the president responded.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they're going to be sending it, and they'll have it be maxed out. It'll take about a month.
ROSE: Trump did not elaborate. The Air Force referred questions to the White House. And this afternoon, the White House released a statement saying the jet is perfectly safe for the president's travels. But the White House says the plane will receive, quote, "upgrades and enhancements" in the fall, which will take about a month to complete. Though still no clarity on exactly what those are.
SUMMERS: And, Joel, how does this jet compare to previous planes that served as Air Force One?
ROSE: Older Air Force One planes were customized for that purpose with extra communication and self-defense capabilities far beyond what a typical Boeing 747 or any passenger jet would have. So, for that matter, will the new ones that Boeing is building now, but that program is years behind schedule. This plane, that was donated by the government of Qatar last year, is supposed to serve as a bridge aircraft until they are ready. The Qatari-donated jet has been retrofitted, but defense and aviation experts say that work was done relatively quickly, and as a result, the new plane probably lacks some of the self-defense technologies found on older Air Force One jets.
SUMMERS: OK. And the White House says the new Air Force One will be out of service for about a month. What can they do in that amount of time?
ROSE: I put that question to Frank Kendall. He is the former secretary of the Air Force under President Biden, and he's skeptical that very much can be done in a month.
FRANK KENDALL: A month is not enough time to do anything significant. Software could be done. Software changes can be made relatively easily anyplace. Hardware modifications? I'm having a hard time imagining any that could be done in a month that are of any serious significance.
ROSE: Kendall and other experts were surprised to see President Trump fly on this new jet to Turkey earlier this month. Trump then flew part of the way back from the Middle East in one of the older Air Force One jets before switching back again to the new jet for the flight from the U.K. to Washington.
SUMMERS: And what has the White House said about that switch?
ROSE: President Trump said when he flew back from Turkey that there were no security concerns that prompted the switch of planes. He said in a post on Truth Social that he flew on the older Air Force One jet, quote, "for old time's sake." You might remember The New York Times reported then that the Secret Service had intervened over security concerns and then published another story which laid out those security concerns about the plane in some detail. Days later, the Justice Department served those reporters with subpoenas, which the newspaper is now fighting in court. By all accounts, the president loves this plane, but for the first time, he appears to be conceding that it is not as well equipped as prior Air Force One jets were.
SUMMERS: NPR's Joel Rose, thanks as always.
ROSE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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