By MICHELLE L. PRICE and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0flew home from a\u00a0NATO summit in Turkey<\/a>\u00a0on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted\u00a0red, white and navy blue jet<\/a>\u00a0he arrived in, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran\u00a0once again began trading strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft \u201cfor old time\u2019s sake,\u201d and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the U.S. at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops.<\/p>\n The travel switch raised fresh security questions about the new aircraft that the U.S.\u00a0spent $400 million to retrofit.<\/a>\u00a0Images of the Qatari-gifted jet\u00a0captured since its unveiling show<\/a>\u00a0it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.<\/p>\n The swap was also announced less than a day after the U.S. military conducted a\u00a0series of large strikes in Iran<\/a>\u00a0in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region. Iran shares a border with Turkey.<\/p>\n Trump first announced in a social media post that the\u00a0gleaming new plane<\/a>\u00a0he had proudly shown off a day earlier would instead visit the U.K. base on the way home so military members could \u201ctour the Aircraft.\u201d Trump said he instead would be flying home in an older plane previously used as Air Force One.<\/p>\n When asked later during a news conference if security concerns had played a role in the switch, Trump didn\u2019t directly answer but said that when it came to Iran, he was \u201cNo. 1 on the list for killing.\u201d<\/p>\n When another reporter followed up, Trump said he\u2019d be \u201cgoing home by normal methods\u201d while the new plane would be shown off to troops.<\/p>\n When asked if the missing countermeasures systems played a role in the jet being swapped out, the U.S. Air Force directed questions to the White House.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,\u201d spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. \u201cAs the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal\u2014 including distraction and misdirection\u2014 to address those threats.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump departed Turkey aboard one of the older Boeing VC-25As that have carried presidents for three and a half decades. Consumer flight trackers were unable to monitor its transponder early in the flight after takeoff, suggesting it had been temporarily disabled by the crew \u2014 a security measure used when ferrying the president to and from high-risk environments like war zones, not a major NATO ally hosting a long-scheduled summit.<\/p>\n Other world leaders\u2019 flights departed with trackable transponders, including those from Germany and the U.K.<\/p>\n The\u00a0luxurious Boeing 747-800<\/a>\u00a0gifted by Qatar, that was modified to carry Trump, departed earlier Wednesday from Turkey and landed at RAF Mildenhall on Wednesday afternoon, flight trackers showed.<\/p>\n Iran has several missiles and drones in its inventory with enough range to make the roughly 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) flight from its own borders to Turkey, including some of its Shahed drones and Shahab ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n