On Way to Davos, Trump's Air Force One Turns Around Mid-Air. Know Why

New Delhi:  US President Donald Trump's journey to the World Economic Forum in Davos faced a brief setback when Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, returned to Joint Base Andrews shortly after takeoff after departing for Switzerland on Tuesday evening.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the decision to return was made after takeoff when the crew aboard Air Force One identified “a minor electrical issue” and, out of an abundance of caution, decided to turn around.

According to a reporter on board, the lights in the aircraft's press cabin flickered off shortly after departure; however, the crew provided no reason for the brief blackout.

To Board another flight

Trump will board another aircraft upon his return and continue on with his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades. Boeing has been working on replacements, but the program has faced a series of delays.

Last year, the ruling family of Qatar gifted Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be added into the Air Force One fleet, a move that faced great scrutiny. That plane is currently being retrofitted to meet security requirements.

Leavitt joked to reporters on Air Force One Tuesday night that a Qatari jet was sounding “much better” right now.

'Davos trip will be 'successful'

Ahead of departure, U.S President Donald Trump said "I believe it will be very successful, the trip. The country's never done better."

"But this will be an interesting trip. I have no idea what's going to happen, but you are well represented," he added.

Heels of threatening tariffs

Trump arrives for the international forum at Davos on the heels of threatening tariffs on Denmark and seven other allies unless they negotiate a transfer of the semi-autonomous territory — a concession the European leaders indicated they are not willing to make.

Trump said the tariffs would start at 10% next month and climb to 25% in June, rates that would be high enough to increase costs and slow growth, potentially hurting Trump’s efforts to tamp down the high cost of living.

The president in a text message that circulated among European officials this week also linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the message, he told Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.”

In the midst of an unusual stretch of testing the United States relations with longtime allies, it seems uncertain what might transpire during Trump's two days in Switzerland.