President Trump flew home from Turkey on the older Air Force One Wednesday, openly acknowledging Iran wants him dead while sidestepping questions about why he’s not using the new Qatari-donated jet.
“I’m No. 1 on the kill list for Iran,” Trump told reporters in Ankara before leaving the NATO summit, as per The Hill. “I don’t really care because I’m doing my job.”
He said the retrofitted Qatari Boeing 747-8 was headed to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the U.K. so service members could take a look at it before it returns stateside.
“For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One from Turkey to Mildenhall,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, calling the detour “totally worth doing to give our Great Military Heroes a chance to appreciate our beautiful new addition to the Air Force Fleet.”
The Associated Press reported last week the new plane lacks some of the missile detection and countermeasure systems fitted to the old Boeing 747-200s. An aviation expert told AP the Qatari jet is better suited for domestic travel, not international legs through contested airspace.
Trump waved off those concerns. When a reporter pressed him on the switch, he repeated that he’s Iran’s No. 1 target, then deadpanned he’d rather be No. 1 on TikTok.
He’s not joking about the threat. “They had leaders; they’re gone, and they had another set of leaders; they’re gone,” Trump said of Iran. “Now they have another set of leaders, they may be gone, who knows, and you know what, I may be gone too, because I’m their No. 1 target.”
The comment landed against the backdrop of a broader set of warnings coming out of Ankara. U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Warren Stephens told the International Maritime Organization Wednesday that China is turning global port infrastructure into a weapon.
“Beijing has pursued an aggressive strategy of acquiring port concessions and infrastructure around the world, not simply for commercial gain, but to extend its strategic reach and weaponize that access against sovereign nations,” Stephens said.
China builds more than half the world’s ships, Stephens said, and dominates the market for ship-to-shore cranes and shipping containers. He pointed to Panama as a preview of what Beijing does when it doesn’t get its way. After Panama’s Supreme Court ruled Chinese operator CK Hutchison’s concessions at both ends of the Panama Canal unconstitutional, China went after Panama-flagged vessels. Washington called it economic retaliation.
“What happened to Panama is a warning to every nation in this room,” Stephens said.
Trump has pushed the same theme from a different angle. He kept up his push at the Ankara summit for U.S. control of Greenland, arguing the island is surrounded by Chinese and Russian vessels. “For global security, Greenland should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” he said. Denmark said no. Again.
The Qatari plane had flown exactly one domestic trip, to North Dakota, before Trump took it to Turkey. The two new Boeing jets the Air Force was supposed to get in 2024 won’t arrive until 2028.
