President Trump’s trip to World Economic Forum in Davos got off to a rocky start on January 20, 2026. Air Force One had a small electrical glitch not long after takeoff from Joint Base Andrews, so the crew played it safe and headed back. Trump just hopped on another plane and kept going, no big deal in the end.
The plane, one of those two Boeing VC-25As that serve as Air Force One, lifted off around 10 p.m. ET in the pitch black. The runway lights were glowing as it climbed up. About an hour in, folks in the press section saw some lights flicker for a second. The team caught it quick and decided to turn around just to be cautious.
A tweet from X.
They touched down safely at 11:07 p.m. ET, with fire trucks and ambulances waiting like they always do in these situations. Nobody got hurt, and nothing was damaged. The reporters got off and switched over to a backup jet a modified Boeing 757 called the C-32 and that one took off right after midnight.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, jumped on it right away.
“Just a minor electrical thing,”
she said, stressing how they handled it by the book.
“Crew spotted it early, followed all the safety steps.”
She went on,
“They came back out of an abundance of caution… everyone was fine, no risks.”
The rapid response folks at the White House posted the same on social media, saying it was all routine.
Then the internet blew up. This X post from @Raindropsmedia1 went nuts it was a 32-second clip from a news show with footage of the takeoff, some in-flight stuff, the landing back home, and the plane switch. Subtitles said things like
“Air Force One heads back to Joint Base Andrews after minor electrical issue” and “President Trump okay; Davos trip continues on spare plane.”
But the post hyped it as the plane “almost crashed,” which kicked off a ton of arguments and memes. People replied stuff like “that’s way overblown” or joked about how Trump’s opponents might be bummed he was safe.
It really shows how they’ve got backups for everything in presidential travel. The Air Force’s 89th Airlift Wing keeps these birds flying, and having that C-32 ready means no real hiccups. Trump made it to Davos on the 21st, a bit late but still on track for his meetings.
Stuff like this has happened before think Obama’s era or Biden’s 2023 detour. FAA stats say electrical glitches cause maybe 5-10% of those minor flight turnarounds, and they’re usually no sweat.
All in all, it points to the old VC-25As showing their age new ones are coming in 2027. But hey, the safety rules worked like a charm, putting safety first and keeping things from getting worse. As Reuters put it, these protocols build confidence in how we handle the president’s flights.
