An emergency slide deployed on the Qatar-gifted presidential aircraft used as Air Force One on Wednesday, delaying President Donald Trump’s departure from Joint Base Andrews for Dallas while crews inspected the jet and later removed the slide. Trump remained on Marine One on the tarmac for more than 20 minutes before boarding the aircraft and continuing to Texas.
Trump told reporters the slide was being checked and said he believed the plane was safe to fly. The incident unfolded shortly before he was due to travel to Dallas for an event, with the older Air Force One also brought to the base as a backup. No technical cause for the deployment was immediately identified, and it was not clear whether the check found a fault before departure. The episode drew attention to the operational reliability of the politically sensitive aircraft, which has been used by the president after being gifted by Qatar and fitted out for presidential service.