Former President Donald Trump’s airplane was diverted on Friday due to a mechanical issue that forced the plane to land in Billings, Montana, instead of Bozeman, Montana, where the former president was scheduled to hold a rally to boost GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy ahead of the November election.
Airport officials confirmed to CBS News that Trump’s plane had been diverted on Friday due to a mechanical issue. Billings-Logan International Airport told CBS News that the former president’s airplane “landed without incident” on Friday afternoon in Billings, which is roughly 150 miles from where Trump’s rally was scheduled to take place on Friday night in Bozeman.
While Billings-Logan International Airport officials did not provide details concerning the cause of the airplane’s mechanical issue, airport officials said the former president used another private jet to complete his trip to Bozeman for Friday night’s rally.
According to CBS News, while Trump’s rally in Bozeman was initially expected to begin at 8 p.m. local time), the former president did not appear on stage until approximately 9:30 local time.
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In a video recorded on his private airplane and posted Friday afternoon by Trump aide Margo Martin on X, formerly Twitter, Trump said, “I just landed in a really beautiful place: Montana. So beautiful, flying over, and you just look down, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
The former president did not mention the airplane’s mechanical issue in Friday’s video. Instead, Trump cited his strong support in the Republican state, adding, “I’m here to do some fundraisers and most importantly to support Tim Sheehy, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, and we think he’s going to do really well. We’re going to have a rally. And it’ll be a lot of fun.”
According to Fox News, Trump’s private plane, which is called Trump Force One, is a Boeing 757. The outlet noted that the private plane includes luxuries such as a living room, a lounge, and a flat-screen TV.
During a private tour of Trump Force One in January, the former president told Fox News, “I’m a worker, right? I’m not a pleasure guy. I’m a worker guy, and it’s a tremendous plane for that. It’s got great speed, and all that energy gets us to where we’re going on time.”
