As President Donald Trump prepared to depart Wednesday for Dallas, Texas, for the first-ever GOP midterm convention, an Air Force One emergency slide deployed onto the tarmac, causing chaos and confusion.
“JUST IN: An inflatable slide deployed on President Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews before he was set to board the plane to head to the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas,” ABC News posted on X.
JUST IN: An inflatable slide deployed on President Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews before he was set to board the plane to head to the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas.
ABC News’ Steven Portnoy reports. https://t.co/nFwtnHujiZ pic.twitter.com/4dMCEe8Erl
— ABC News (@ABC) September 9, 2026
Bloomberg’s White House Correspondent, Josh Wingrove, cited reporting from his colleague Jeff Mason on X, writing that it was “unclear what’s happening, but Trump has been sitting in Marine One on the tarmac at Andrews for some time now, and it looks like an inflatable slide has been deployed on the nearby plane (the Qatari one) he would otherwise have boarded.”
Unclear what’s happening, but Trump has been sitting in Marine One on the tarmac at Andrews for some time now, and it looks like an inflatable slide has been deployed on the nearby plane (the Qatari one) he would otherwise have boarded, per @jeffmason1. pic.twitter.com/ZpZWhTHVM9
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 9, 2026
Will you watch Trump speak at the RNC?
Yes: 70% (7 Votes)
No: 30% (3 Votes)
Commentator Nick Sortor also shared a social media update in the early afternoon, saying, “[it] appears the EMERGENCY SLIDE has been deployed on the new Air Force One while on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. President Trump is NOT yet on Air Force One, and is safely inside Marine One. It looks like they may be prepping the legacy Air Force One.”
🚨 JUST NOW: It appears the EMERGENCY SLIDE has been deployed on the new Air Force One while on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews
President Trump is NOT yet on Air Force One, and is safely inside Marine One.
It looks like they may be prepping the legacy Air Force One pic.twitter.com/J3fFuCM6Og
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 9, 2026
The New York Times reported that the slide was accidentally deployed “by a military aide.”
Trump spoke briefly with reporters on the tarmac, after being asked whether he knew what the issue was.
“No, they were checking it before, and they just want to make sure everything works perfectly,” he replied.
Q: Do you know why they’re checking the slide? Is there a security concerns with the plane?
TRUMP: They just want to make sure everything works perfectly pic.twitter.com/yI3ZqZZoAl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2026
Trump later boarded the plane and departed for Dallas without transferring to the legacy Air Force One, according to the New York Times.
The outlet quoted White House communications director Steven Cheung as explaining, “As the president has said, the slide was checked out to make sure everything works perfectly. Air Force One is on its way to Dallas so he can deliver his much-anticipated speech to a raucous and sold-out crowd.”
The commander in chief was scheduled to give a prime-time address Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Central Time, appearing right after singer Lee Greenwood, who is known for his famous patriotic song, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Other major figures who will be appearing on the first night include GOP House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and podcaster Adam Carolla, among others.
The midterm convention was thrust into the spotlight last week after The Western Journal reported that Google had seemingly given preference to a fake convention website link that, when clicked, rerouted users to a Justice Department page related to Jeffrey Epstein.
After clicking on one of the first links to pop up, titled “gopdallas2026.com,” some users were steered to a U.S. Department of Justice search page with the words “Epstein Library” across the top.
The actual website for the convention was confirmed to be “gopconvention.com.”
Upon clicking the real link, users are greeted with the words, “The golden age of America has just begun,” along with details and schedules for the historic gathering.
“This unprecedented event will serve as a national celebration of American exceptionalism, freedom, opportunity, and prosperity,” the webpage read.
There has been no indication whether the manipulated search result was intentional on Google’s part. The Western Journal reached out to Google for further comment, but did not receive a reply.
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