US President Donald Trump said Friday he would take the new Air Force One on its first foreign trip since a security scare in Turkey, leaving a security upgrade to the Qatari-gifted jet for next month.

The plane has been at the center of controversy since it emerged that Trump not only switched to an older model to leave a NATO summit in Ankara in July because of a reported threat from Iran, but then secretly swapped to a third aircraft.

Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that he would be taking the jet donated by Qatar’s royal family on a trip to Ireland next week despite the security concerns.

Asked if the jet would still be getting extra security measures as he had announced in July, Trump said: “It’s gonna be maxed out. Yeah, it’s going to go away, and it’s a magnificent plane.”

“It has a lot of stuff, but to max it out — meaning you can go into any territory — it’ll take about 60 days, and it’s being sent in October to be maxed out,” Trump told reporters.

But Trump’s timescale for the modifications has doubled from the month that he had previously said it would take when he first mentioned them on July 19.

The White House declined to comment on the upgrades.

“We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture,” a senior administration official told AFP.

“It is the greatest Presidential plane........

© The Times of Israel