Emergency slide deploys on Qatari-gifted Air Force One before Trump departs for GOP convention

An apparent issue with a new presidential aircraft delayed President Donald Trump’s departure for his GOP convention in Dallas on Wednesday, after an emergency slide deployed on the far side of the plane.

Talking to reporters on the tarmac, Trump suggested the deployment of the slide was intentional.

“They were doing a check on the slide, you know, in the emergency. So, I think it takes about 15 minutes,” Trump told reporters before boarding the Qatari-gifted jet .

Trump landed at Joint Base Andrews aboard Marine One at 2:02 pm ET. Around the same time, the emergency slide was seen extended from the new plane that the president has often touted as being superior to the old presidential plane .

Trump remained aboard Marine One for more than 20 minutes as the situation unfolded on the tarmac. The older Air Force One with a light blue paint job soon pulled up and parked behind the new aircraft, and crews were told the older plane was serving as Wednesday’s backup.

At 2:24 p.m., the stairs of Marine One were extended, and the president stepped off to board the new jet.

Asked whether he knew the reason for the inspection and whether there was a security concern, Trump said, “I guess they’ve already put it up. They want to make sure everything works perfectly.”

When asked if he was confident that it was safe to fly, Trump responded, “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.”

A White House spokesperson referred to Trump’s comments when asked for more information about what caused the issue.

一架新的总统专机出现明显故障，导致唐纳德·特朗普总统周三前往达拉斯参加共和党全国代表大会的行程被推迟。飞机远端的一个紧急滑梯突然展开。

特朗普在停机坪上接受记者采访时暗示，滑梯的部署是故意的。

“他们正在检查滑梯，你知道，这是紧急情况下的检查。所以，我想大概需要15分钟，”特朗普在登上卡塔尔赠送的私人飞机前告诉记者。

美国东部时间下午2点02分，特朗普乘坐海军陆战队一号降落在安德鲁斯联合基地。大约在同一时间，人们看到这架新飞机的紧急滑梯已经展开，总统经常吹捧这架飞机比旧的总统专机更好。

在停机坪上局势发展的过程中，特朗普在“海军陆战队一号”上停留了20多分钟。不久，涂有浅蓝色油漆的旧款“空军一号”抵达并停在新飞机后面，机组人员被告知，这架旧飞机是作为周三的备用机。

下午 2 点 24 分，海军陆战队一号的舷梯放下，总统走下舷梯登上这架新飞机。

当被问及是否知道检查的原因以及是否存在安全隐患时，特朗普说：“我想他们已经安排好了。他们想确保一切运转正常。”

当被问及是否确信飞行安全时，特朗普回答说：“是的，我很有信心，否则我就不会坐飞机了。”

当被问及此事起因时，白宫发言人提到了特朗普的言论。