President Donald Trump’s departure for a Republican midterm convention in Dallas is briefly delayed after an inflatable emergency slide deploys on the Qatar-gifted Air Force One while the aircraft is parked at Joint Base Andrews. Multiple outlets report the slide appears to activate shortly before Trump is scheduled to board.
Trump tells reporters that the slide is being checked and that he is confident the plane is safe to fly. Accounts describe the president boarding after the issue is addressed, with the aircraft later departing Washington for Texas. Reuters-based reporting says the slide is removed after deployment, and that the delay lasts about 15 minutes.
Outlets differ on specific details: some note the slide inflates from a particular door on the aircraft’s right-hand side, while others focus on the delay and the fact that the Qatar-donated plane is used as interim Air Force One after being accepted in 2025. Additional reporting also describes the slide as being deployed and then taken away before boarding, without changing the overall timeline.
Overall, the reports agree the incident is mechanical, does not describe any injuries, and is resolved before Trump flies to deliver scheduled remarks in Dallas.
