Trump's trip to GOP soiree in Texas is briefly delayed after Air Force One's emergency slide deploys

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump had been eagerly awaiting his trip to Texas for his Republican Party's midterm convention. But he was briefly delayed by the deployment of an inflatable emergency slide on the new Air Force One plane that was a gift from Qatar.

Trump arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland aboard Marine One on Wednesday afternoon for the scheduled trip to Dallas but was kept on the helicopter for about 20 minutes as U.S. Air Force personnel attended to the plane. The emergency slide had deployed from the front right exit, on the opposite side of the door Trump uses to board.

As Trump arrived at the base, reporters accompanying him to Texas watched the former baby blue and white plane that had flown presidents for decades taxi from the hangar and stop a few hundred yards behind the gifted aircraft, which Trump had refurbished at taxpayer expense and painted red, white, dark blue and gold.

Eventually, Trump emerged from the helicopter and said the slide was being tested. Asked why, he said, "They want to make sure everything works perfectly.”

It was not immediately clear whether the slide was intentionally inflated during testing or whether an error caused it to inflate. But Trump said he was not worried. Asked whether he was satisfied that the plane was safe to fly, he said, “Yeah, I am — or I wouldn't be on it.”

White House communications director Steven Cheung issued a statement that did not fully explain how the slide was deployed.

“As the President has said, the slide was checked out to make sure everything works perfectly,” Cheung said. “Air Force One is on its way to Dallas so he can deliver his much-anticipated speech to a raucous and sold-out crowd.”

A U.S. Air Force spokesperson said the plane “continued safely on its planned route” after an “emergency slide deployment.” The statement did not address whether the deployment was part of the testing or an accident.

Trump boarded as the crew continued work to deflate, detach and cart away the slide. The plane then took off and landed safely in Dallas a few hours later.

In July, as Trump prepared to head back to the United States from a NATO summit in Turkey, he secretly flew out on a third U.S. Air Force plane after the Qatari jet was flown — without him aboard — to a military base in the United Kingdom. The older version of Air Force One was used as a decoy and carried White House and administration staff, and reporters to the base.

After he arrived in the U.K, Trump got off the third plane and secretly boarded the decoy only to disembark with staff and reporters as if he had flown with them. The group then boarded the newer Air Force One for the flight to Joint Base Andrews.

Trump said several weeks later that the U.S. Secret Service and the military wanted him to travel on a “different plane” due to a threat.

Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One after an emergency inflatable slide deployed before he arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump talks with reporters after an emergency inflatable slide deployed on Air Force One before before Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S. Air Force personnel work after an emergency inflatable slide deployed on Air Force One before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S> Air Force personnel work after an emergency inflatable slide deployed before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S, Air Force personnel work after an emergency inflatable slide deployed before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday that his government would press ahead with efforts to restore the independence of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, as hundreds of protesters gathered for a second night against the suspension of the court’s president.

The pro-European government said the suspension is necessary to restore judicial independence, while critics from the opposition have likened it to a “coup d’etat.”

President Karol Nawrocki — who opposes the pro-European government — turned back his plane during a flight to Senegal on Friday evening and returned home. On Friday night, he made his way to the Constitutional Tribunal despite the chaos and said he helped the suspended court president enter the building.

Police said they detained three protesters on Friday night after some threw objects at officers and tried to break through the security fence around the court.

The dispute over the long-embattled Constitutional Tribunal is likely to deepen political polarization in Poland a year before a parliamentary election, further intensifying the standoff between the pro-European government and the national-conservative opposition party Law and Justice, or PiS.

Critics in Poland and the European Union accuse PiS, which led the country between 2015 and 2023, of imposing political control over key judicial institutions. Reforms introduced under the PiS government prompted the EU to impose fines on Poland.

Tusk’s pro-European government came to power in 2023 with a promise to restore the independence of the judiciary. Since then, its efforts have been blocked by vetoes from two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.

“Restoring the rule of law is our obligation,” Tusk wrote on X on Friday evening. “After years of lawlessness under PiS this is a difficult process, sometimes painful and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”

Tusk had earlier pledged that his government would ensure the tribunal was again staffed with lawfully appointed judges while acknowledging that his methods may not be to everyone’s liking.

The functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal had been impaired for years. The Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU's top court, had said it was no longer an impartial court after PiS appointments. Even after Tusk took power, efforts to balance the court were hampered by Nawrocki and the tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski.

On Friday evening, the Constitutional Tribunal’s website announced the suspension of Święczkowski. Shortly after, the protesters — including PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and far-right politicians — began rallying outside the building.

The government says Święczkowski repeatedly broke the law and jeopardized the tribunal’s work. Święczkowski became head of the court under the former PiS government. Tusk has accused him of blocking judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking up their posts at the tribunal.

“Since last night, we’re dealing with a massive constitutional crisis in Poland, the result of an illegal, forceful attempt to take over an important institution,” Marcin Przydacz, a top aide to the Polish president, told The Associated Press.

Przydacz said that the president had invited all parliamentary parties to talks on Saturday in an effort to defuse tensions and find a solution to the crisis.

The government is a broad coalition made up of Tusk's centrist Civic Coalition, the Left, and two more conservative groupings, Poland 2050 and the Polish People’s Party, or PSL. Representatives of Poland 2050 and PSL, along with several opposition parties, met with Nawrocki on Saturday, while Tusk didn't attend.

The president’s camp is hoping that the crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal will erode Tusk’s parliamentary majority.

“Everything depends on those political parties who supported Donald Tusk so far,” Przydacz said.

Speaking on Saturday night, Tusk compared PiS to a man who steals an elderly woman’s purse and then claims to be the victim when police catch him and take it back.

PiS' response to the suspension of Święczkowski, including the attempts to forcefully enter the Tribunal on Friday, represents “another stage in the process of destroying the rule of law in Poland” by PiS and the president, Tusk said.

Demonstrators pray during a protest in front of the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A demonstrators wears a cap with the name ot US President Trump and Polish President Nawrocki during a protest in front of the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A demonstrator holds a poster reading "Tusk go to Berlin" during a protest in front of the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

Suspended President of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal Bogdan Swieczkowski, center, attends a protest in front of the Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A man gestures during a protest in front of the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

Police officers are guarding the entrance to the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski) Photo taken with a smartphone.

Police officers guard the entrance to the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski) Photo taken with a smartphone.