Air Force One returned to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday night after the crew identified “a minor electrical issue” after takeoff, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
President Donald Trump was seen boarding a new, smaller aircraft after landing. It will take the designation Air Force One, according to protocol noted by the Air Force.
The plane with the electrical issue landed with Trump on board at 11:07 p.m. after having taken off shortly after 9:40 p.m. ET.
The president uses one of two custom Boeing 747-200B planes that the Air Force calls VC-25 aircraft. It’s not clear which experienced trouble Tuesday night.
The pool of reporters on board described his replacement aircraft as a smaller Boeing 757. It departed early Wednesday.
Trump was on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when the plane was forced to return. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent said it would likely delay his arrival by about three hours.
Awaiting him in Switzerland will be allies unhappy with his desire to have the United States take control of Greenland. Trump has threatened to levy new tariffs on eight key allies, including the U.K., France and Germany, unless they support his plan.
European officials plan to hold an emergency summit Thursday to consider retaliatory tariffs.
Global markets were not happy with the threat of a trade war. The S&P 500 ended Tuesday down nearly 2.1%, its worst day since October, with the Nasdaq Composite plunging more than 2.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping just over 1.7%.
