Karoline Leavitt joked about the Qatari jet that President Donald Trump accepted as a gift during Air Force One’s electrical mishap that prompted it to return to the U.S. on Tuesday night.
Air Force One was en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos when the lights in the press cabin briefly went dark, a reporter said, per The Associated Press. A half-hour into the journey, the press was told the flight would be returning to Joint Base Andrews. The president later took a smaller version of Air Force One to Switzerland.
Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the plane’s turnaround was out of an abundance of caution due to a “minor electrical issue.”
But she also attempted a bit of levity, saying on board that the Qatari jet was sounding “much better,” according to a press pool reporter.
Last year, Trump accepted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, saying it would be “stupid” to reject a free plane that could replace the aging Air Force One.
