Olivia Asher is a reporter at the New Herald Tribune covering breaking news for the Digital Trends Desk. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Plain Dealer.
July 9 , 2026
Washington - President Donald Trump, 80, surprised aides and reporters Wednesday by abandoning the newly commissioned Air Force One mid-tour and finishing his return flight from Europe aboard the aging VC-25A that has served as the presidential plane for more than three decades, citing an “app nightmare” on the new jet as the reason for the switch.
The president, who had flown the new Qatari-gifted Boeing 747—officially designated the VC-25B “Bridge”—from Turkey to the United Kingdom for the NATO summit, ordered ground crews to return him to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the old VC-25A after a brief stop at RAF Mildenhall.
According to multiple White House officials and a senior Air Force spokesman, the decision was made late Tuesday after the president spent several hours on the new aircraft during the Turkey-to-UK leg without using most of its upgraded systems.
Seconds after landing in the UK, the president told aides he would not continue home on the VC-25B-like jet, prompting a last-minute swap of aircraft and a rerouted flight plan for the return journey.
In a 12-minute briefing to reporters gathered on the White House colonnade Wednesday, Trump explained the switch in blunt terms, saying the new plane’s digital interfaces had become a barrier to basic comfort and communication.
“You want to watch a movie, you have to download an app,” Trump said. “Order a drink, download an app. Talk to the pilot, download an app. It was just too much.”
The president, who has been known in recent years to favor older technology and simplicity in his daily routines, described hours spent trying to pair his phone with the aircraft’s systems, only to be redirected to multiple app downloads for lighting, temperature, and service controls.
Senior White House staff did not contradict the president’s account but noted that the VC-25B Bridge is still undergoing post-retrofit testing and that some of its digital systems are intentionally software-driven to allow for future upgrades.
The VC-25A, a modified Boeing 747-200B that has flown as Air Force One since the early 1990s, was dispatched from Joint Base Andrews to RAF Mildenhall within hours of the president’s decision.
Trump boarded the older aircraft late Tuesday and flew directly to Washington, where he landed at Joint Base Andrews around 7:40 p.m. local time, greeted by a small group of Air Force and Transportation Department officials but no formal press event.
The new VC-25B Bridge remained in the United Kingdom for the time, with Air Force planners saying it would be used for additional ceremonial flights and domestic testing before the president resumes regular use, possibly in late summer or fall.
For many observers, the decision to fly home on the old plane became a symbolic illustration of Trump’s second-term style: impromptu, pragmatic, and often at odds with the slow-moving world of defense procurement and bureaucratic planning.
The VC-25A is expected to remain in active service through at least 2027, with the Air Force continuing to use it for many presidential trips while the official VC-25B fleet is completed.
The new VC-25B Bridge, meanwhile, will continue to serve as a backup and ceremonial platform, according to Air Force officials, even as the president’s preferences for the interim aircraft remain unclear.
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