Trump's Qatari jet delayed by emergency slide mishap

US President Donald Trump's Qatari-donated Boeing 747 was delayed at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday after an emergency evacuation slide deployed before takeoff.

Trump was preparing to fly to Dallas, Texas, for a Republican Party convention. He remained in his helicopter before boarding while inspectors checked one of the aircraft's inflatable evacuation slides.

“They're checking the slide over here, and I think it's going to take 15 minutes,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac.

A person briefed on the situation later told AFP that military personnel accidentally triggered the slide. Reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington saw an inflatable slide deployed on the right side of the aircraft.

The current Air Force One later took off and landed in Texas. Asked by an AFP reporter whether he was sure the jet was safe, Trump said: “Yeah I am, or I wouldn't be on it.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the slide had been checked “to make sure everything works perfectly.”

The aircraft has faced recurring safety and security questions. In July, Trump decided at the last minute not to fly on the Qatari jet as he left the NATO summit in Turkey amid security concerns.

Trump recently said work to enhance security measures on the new jet would begin in October and take two months. The Qatari royal family donated the aircraft last year after Trump complained about the condition of the two older Air Force One planes, which have been in service since 1990.

The donated jet, valued at several hundred million dollars, has raised ethical and constitutional questions over gifts a US president may receive from foreign governments. It has already been refitted by the military and is to be used until Boeing delivers two new aircraft in the coming years. Trump has indicated that he intends to keep the Qatari plane for his future presidential museum.