Air Force One turned around mid-flight this week and disrupted President Donald Trump‘s travel plans. The White House explained that it was a “minor electrical issue.” But for many observers, the issue was something else entirely. The president’s delayed arrival at the World Economic Forum in Davos also came with a strained, combative speech, which only made the speculation louder.
We have to remember that Air Force One is among the most closely monitored aircraft on Earth, so a mid-air reversal is rather alarming. “Is it totally, utterly and completely suspect that Air Force One turned around mid-flight? Absolutely,” one Threads user wrote, as things like this “just do not happen. Period.”
Others were convinced the issue wasn’t mechanical at all and that maybe Trump didn’t want to walk into a hostile crowd, which is critical of his foreign policy. “He doesn’t want to go there because no one likes him,” another user posted. “Something’s off here.”
Ain’t no minor electrical issue the cause of this
🚨🇺🇸 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🇺🇸🚨
Air Force One abruptly turned around over the Atlantic. Motorcade seen racing…..lights and sirens……to Joint Base Andrews.
No press statement., No official explanation. Just a sudden reversal… pic.twitter.com/8koXuRAndQ
— {Matt} $XRPatriot (@matttttt187) January 21, 2026
According to the White House, though, Trump’s aircraft returned to Joint Base Andrews after the lights went out in the press cabin. Trump then transferred to a smaller plane and reached Zurich almost three hours behind schedule. It was only after that that he headed to Davos, and no photos of the plane transfer were released either.
Soon, several social media users thought that Trump had a medical issue, though without any evidence. Others claimed that aides may have exaggerated the electrical problem to restrict the 79-year-old president’s exposure to unscripted interactions with world leaders.
Trump’s Davos appearance also came amid international backlash over his behavior toward NATO allies and European nations. He has threatened tariffs while floating U.S. control of Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark. Trump has since walked back some of those threats, but the damage is evident.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney had warned in his Davos speech that relations with Washington were nearing a breaking point. “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said.
So when Trump took the stage and addressed “friends and a few enemies,” he immediately struck a confrontational note. Many viewers said that the speech often felt rambling and was difficult to follow. Even World Economic Forum attendees reportedly laughed as Trump referred to Greenland as “Iceland” and joked about asking for “a piece of ice.”
BREAKING –
Major embarrassment for Trump
He repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland during his speech in Davos pic.twitter.com/kFALkL7GLv
— Global UPDATES (@GlobalUpdates24) January 21, 2026
At one point, Trump also claimed, “Canada lives because of the United States.” He also mocked French President Emmanuel Macron for wearing sunglasses after suffering a burst blood vessel. CBS 19 reported that an attendee muttered, “He’s a nutcase,” while exiting. Julia Binder of Switzerland’s IMD Business School told Agence France-Presse: “I expect the worst… And shock he did.”
Online Republicans Against Trump called the speech “a ramblefest.” Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson described it as a “low-energy, confused” performance that turned the U.S. president into “an international laughingstock.”
But as of now, there is no verifiable evidence that anything beyond a mechanical issue caused the Air Force One delay.
