Transcript of Behind The Story: Flying With The President New

With 3 floors, an operating room, and a kitchen that can feed 100 people at once, Air Force One is the most famous plane in the world. But what's it like flying on the presidential aircraft?

Today we're excited to share with you the latest episode of our brand new podcast, Morning Wire Presents: Behind the Story. Join Daily Wire's DC Bureau Chief Tim Rice and his guest, White House correspondent Mary Margaret O'Leary, as they break down Mary Margaret's recent trip with the president and what it's like to to fly with the leader of the free world.

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. Here's Behind the Story.

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It's the most famous plane in the world. The Boeing 747, marked by the seal of the President of the United States, known far and wide as Air Force One, has everything the leader of the free world could need at 40,000 feet. The 4,000-square-foot aircraft has 3 floors, a conference room, and a fully operational medical suite that can serve as an operating room that always has a doctor on hand. The plane is capable of refueling in midair and is designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. Air Force One has space for around 100 passengers and crew and a world-class kitchen that is ready to feed those 100 people at the drop of a hat. President John F. Kennedy was the first commander-in-chief to have a specially designed presidential jet, one where Lyndon Johnson would famously take the oath of office after Kennedy was killed. Air Force One has been in the news recently thanks to President Donald Trump's calls for new planes to enter the presidential fleet and his controversial acceptance of a new jet from the Qatari royal family. That jet is set to be delivered to the 89th Airlift Wing, also known as the Presidential Airlift Group, this summer.

If you're not a member of the president's family or cabinet, the best way to hitch a ride on Air Force One is to join the White House press corps. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret O'Leary has flown with the president numerous times, including just this week. She joins us today to discuss that trip and to give us a peek behind the curtain of the world's most famous plane. I'm Daily Wire Washington Bureau Chief Tim Rice, and this is Behind the Story. Mary Margaret, thank you so much for joining me.

Hey, Tim, thanks for having me.

So, all right, let's just get right into it. You flew with the president all day. You were with the president all day, I should say, on Wednesday. You flew on Air Force One. Let's dive right in. Tell us about that trip.

Yes, so we left early from the White House. Typically, we'll start at Joint Base Andrews, and that's where Air Force One will take off from. But on Wednesday, we actually started at the White House. We motorcaded all the way across the city of course, the fastest way to get across Washington by far. And then when we arrived at Joint Base Andrews, the press, we are all in specific vans. So obviously the president rides in the Beast, his staff ride in other cars and vehicles behind him. The press is in 3 vans, typically in the middle to the end of the motorcade. And so when you arrive at any location where the president's about to get on the plane, you get out of that van and you run. You don't just walk, you run. To get under the wing of the plane so that by the time the president gets out of his car, all the cameras are on and the reporters are ready to ask him as many questions as they can. Now, in this first moment when we arrived at Joint Base Andrews before we were headed to Connecticut, I sprinted from that van.

I got there first. And so by the time the president was approaching the cameras, it was me that he was looking at and I was able to ask him some of our first questions. The pitfall there, of course, is that one of the cameras wasn't on. So by the time I was starting to ask him about the biggest news of the week, which is Thomas Massie and how he was defeated in his race in Kentucky on Tuesday evening, the president had a spicy retort, but the cameras didn't catch it because they were a little early.

Fortunately, that's why we still have print journalism, and everyone can read about that— Trump's answer to that question and Mary Margaret's other questions on dailywire.com. And so what was the purpose of this week's trip? Why were you with the president?

Yes, so Donald Trump was heading up to Connecticut to give the commencement speech at the United States Coast Guard Academy commencement. So he flew up there and all of these cadets were waiting. They're lined up in their uniforms, you know, sitting very properly as they've been taught. They do not make a peep unless they are ordered to do so. And The president spoke to them. He loves talking to the military. And I always have a lot of fun listening to his remarks to the military because he obviously— he goes off script. Trump is famous for doing the weave where he will— he will stick to his remarks, but then he'll add in a little bit of color, a little bit of flavor, anything that really comes to his mind that he wants to impart to the audience. And for these cadets, he really stressed to them the importance of working hard. Which, uh, I haven't really heard him elaborate on too much before. But in this case, he really emphasized the importance of working hard and how that would carry them through any occupation that they might have. And he also said over and over again that it was very hard to get into the United States Coast Guard Academy, and so they should all be really proud of themselves.

And he said that their parents were very proud of them, uh, and just enjoyed himself immensely. Actually, when they went up to get awards at a certain point, he would call each one up to receive their specific awards, he was borderline catcalling them and joking around and saying, look at the muscles on this guy. And he was just really enjoying himself. Now, I should add, it was blazing hot outside. So the president was certainly sweating. All of the press were sweating. Everyone was handing out water bottles left and right. And then, of course, the parents and friends and family of the cadets who are graduating are all gathered. In the stands. I could see snipers on the buildings above us and all around. Obviously, we have to have a really significant security presence when the president speaks anywhere, but in this specific case, he was very well guarded. And, uh, you know, the parents and friends and family were very excited to see him there, and it was just— it was a fun afternoon. It was really cool. And then of course, uh, towards the end of the event, uh, the press all get ready Uh, they tell us, uh, we gotta pack up, and so we all go rushing off to get ready to be in the motorcade because as soon as the president departs the Coast Guard Academy, walks across the field, gets into his— into his vehicle, uh, then the motorcade is moving.

And if you're not in there, you get left behind, and they are not afraid to remind you of that fact.

So you've done this a couple of times. How many times would you say you've flown on Air Force One at this point?

Oh gosh, uh, less than 10, maybe more than 5.

Less than 10, more than 5. All right. And then a couple of times on Air Force Two with the Vice President, right?

Many times on Air Force Two. I've also flown with Pete Hegseth on the War Department plane and, uh, actually traveled on the, the DOJ plane with Pam Bondi before she, uh, was replaced as Attorney General.

So I want to talk about all those planes in a second, but you know, the main focus, right, is obviously Air Force One. So just tell us a little bit, like just walk us through, like, you know, so you run up, you get on, you get past the security, you get onto the tarmac, you make it, you know, just walk us through, like, pretend you're stepping on right now. What's it like? What do you see? What's it like being on there?

So you rush up the stairs of the plane. As soon as you get to the top of the stairs, you'll usually see two attendants right in front of you. They're dressed very well. They smile at you. They say hello. And then you walk onto the back of the plane because, you know, you enter from the back. The president enters from the front. You walk into the back and you'll see a number of seats lined up. It's kind of like riding first class on a regular plane. You have plenty of room, but you get treated much better. You, you sit down in your seat and an attendant quickly appears and offers you cold towels, or if it's winter, hot towels. And then as you're seated, and this is specifically on Air Force One, the attendants will come after the flight has taken off. They'll offer you drinks. And there's all variety of beverages that you can choose from. Now, I should note here that nothing on Air Force One is free. So when I'm traveling on Air Force One, I'm very aware that The Daily Wire is paying for my food and beverages, so I don't go too hard.

Um, but you can order—

where, where, where, like, are— where does the press pool sit? Like, in what, what position of the plane? Where are you guys kind of kept?

We are in the back of the plane, so, uh, we can see through the rest of the passages. Um, not all of them, but we can see straight ahead that there's staff sitting in front of us. Sometimes friends of the president are sitting in front of us. And if the president decides to come back and talk to the press, sometimes you can see him making his way back through the plane, uh, and then the press will get quite excited. So usually the way it goes is this, uh, you get onto the plane, the attendants comes, offers you drinks, offers you a cold towel, flight takes off and the press settles in, you know, we might be on our phones, uh, reading books. There's no internet for the press. There is for the president, for his staff, but they don't have internet for us. So, um, it's kind of a nice time to actually relax, read a book, prepare your questions, work on a story. And then if you're lucky, the president will come back during the flight and talk to the press. And so there's special arrangements too. So the reporters, for example myself, we get to sit in the front seats.

And you'll get on and you'll see there's a little name tag that says, welcome aboard Air Force One, Miss O'Lehann, uh, which is so fun. And I keep them every single time. Uh, and so they'll put the reporters up in those front seats of the back portion so that if the president comes, you're right there and you can ask them questions. Then the videographers and the camera people sit behind you, and that way they'll be filming over the top of your shoulder if the president comes. Now A lot of the time he doesn't come, and so you'll just enjoy a nice flight. Uh, halfway through they'll bring you a meal. Uh, they're very good, very, very good food on Air Force One. They'll bring you, uh, some kind of egg breakfast.

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that because we've seen a lot of, uh, especially in this administration, you know, social media forward. So the White House tweets out pictures of like Air Force One meals. A lot of the reporters, uh, you included, have, you know, sort of put out snapshots of you know, what you're serving. And it's, you know, it's kind of like eating at the White House, right? So like, what's the sort of like, what's a typical offering, uh, of an Air Force One meal?

I mean, I've had steak on Air Force One, I've had tacos on Air Force One. It really depends on the day. The menu is always there when you get on. They'll show you what's for dinner. And, uh, you know, if you get on in time for breakfast, I've had meals served that come on a tray with beautiful Air Force One china. They'll have Air Force One cups and napkins and orange juice and coffee and everything that you can think of. It's just, it really is like a very nice dining experience. And one, one thing of note that I think we all will appreciate is I was on Air Force One on a Friday in Lent once, and obviously I'm Catholic, so I don't have meat on Fridays. And I, I figured I just have to, you know, not really have a protein part of my dinner that night. But when the flight attendant came back and asked me if I was good with the meal, I said, I just ventured to say, do you have a meatless option? And they said, of course, we'll have salmon for you. So that night I had salmon on Air Force One and I didn't have to worry about my Lenten obligation.

But I think that gives you a good little flavor of just how obliging and kind and nice the service is on Air Force One. You're treated so well. Air Force Two is very similar. It's a little bit smaller. And what I have noticed on Air Force Two is that they will serve you wonderful meals that taste delicious, but often they're packaged and on your seat when you arrive, which is a little bit more, you know, a little more casual, but more practical, I would say, in terms of speed and efficiency. And then on other planes like the Department of War plane, or specifically the Department of War planes, it's a little more like Air Force Two. A little more casual. The work— and then finally, the DOJ plane that I flew on did not serve meals. And I was very sad to find this out because I was used to the luxury of the other planes. And so I had to go hungry.

So you mentioned before that, you know, there's no— there's no internet for the press. Is this, you know, usually in the briefing room, it's very loud. We've talked about this before. It's smaller than people think. And it's a lot of just like hustling and trying to get the right angle to make sure press secretary or whoever is briefing that day can, can see you and answer your question. But is this— this feels like it's a good time for the press corps to really interact with each other. Is this— do you find yourself talking to other members of the press corps more than you would, uh, you know, in the briefing room when you're on Air Force One?

Absolutely. I mean, you're sitting close together, you can have great conversations, um, and it's an interesting place to be in because you might be sitting next to a reporter that comes from an outlet that maybe is hostile to yours, and you can end up having a lovely conversation with them and bonding over, um, common interests or, um, you know, common backgrounds that you didn't know you even had. Or there's just reporters that you're friends with. And I'm thinking specifically of when I traveled to Charlie Kirk's memorial with, uh, the president on Air Force One. That was one of the most, um, you know, sobering but also beautiful events that I have covered as a reporter. Uh, we flew to Phoenix from DC, and then we flew back the same day. And I was seated next to Brian Glenn, who's a reporter and is a good friend of mine. We were able to talk about Charlie's memorial together. We were able to ask the president questions together. And that was just, um, it was just wonderful, you know, to have a friend like that and to have, um, that bond at such a sad event. And, um, and a sad but unforgettable event.

And I actually specifically remember from that trip, I was freezing cold And Brian remembered that Air Force One has blankets and pillows if you need them. So he went up and got them, and we had all these wonderful Air Force One blankets, and we were cold no more.

That's awesome. So obviously that trip was very memorable, as you said, sort of a more solemn experience. But other than that, what would you say is, you know, thus far your favorite Air Force One trip or the coolest thing that's happened to you on one of these flights?

Oh, that's a great question. I think probably my favorite Air Force One trip was the very first one that I ever did. And I think, you know, any person would probably say that their very first time going on Air Force One is going to stay with them forever. But I was, you know, relatively new to the White House beat, and it was February, I believe, in 2025. So right after the administration had kicked off. And I was invited to travel with the president for the first time. And I was so excited and I got all dolled up in a really good outfit to go on this trip to Palm Beach with the president. And my Uber was late. And so as I, you know, the Uber arrives and they're driving me to JBA and the driver was going kind of slow. So I leaned over and said, as politely as I could, you know, if you can go faster, I would really appreciate it. I have to catch a flight. And the driver laughed and he said, "They'll wait for you." And I kind of chuckled nervously because the President of the United States is not going to wait for me.

But that was a really cool experience. And just getting to fly on Air Force One is an honor, but also to look the president in the eye and ask him whatever questions you want, that never gets old.

What do you think is the most sort of like, for those of us who have not been on Air Force One, what do you think is the thing that would shock people the most about traveling with the President or just the plane itself?

I would say the speed with which you take off and the speed with which you land. You know, our typical flying experience, you know, we board, it takes a long time, everyone gets on, there's a lot of warnings and recommendations and safety instructions. So much time passes before you actually leave the airport and get off the ground. Air Force One, that is not the case. You get on the plane, you sit down, you put your things up, the doors close, you start to move, and the next thing you know, you are literally in the sky. It just happens so quickly. Same for landing. You just land so quickly, and often it's a little scary because, uh, you know, it's a small-ish plane, and, uh, things, you know, turbulence is a little scary, moving around a lot, lots of shaking, especially on the smaller planes too. You know, if we're talking about Air Force Two or the Department of War plane, the turbulence is no joke. So I think just feeling in, in such a small space often, and then of course, when the president comes back, the absolute mad scramble of the reporters to all get in perfect positions to just yell their questions at the president and the speed with which he answers them.

It's just, it's unlike any other experience I've ever had. And it kind of requires that you be not only aggressive, but also incredibly persistent, and at times kind of rude as you get in the president's face. But he loves it. He works with all of us. He answers all the questions. On Wednesday when I was with him, he gagged with the reporters. Gaggled is what we call it when you, uh, when you— the president comes up to a group of reporters and actually talks to us. So he gagged with us under the wing before he got on the plane, and he was ending the gaggle, and I kind of yelled to him, he said, all right, thank you, and he started to walk away. And I said, James Comey, Mr. President, because I knew that would make him turn around. And he did, and he came back, and I was able to ask him my question about former FBI Director James Comey. So it's a, it's a, a very chaotic and fun experience, and also pretty bougie.

Yeah, right. Uh, James Comey, the former FBI director, of course, who's being, uh, investigated for, uh, making threats or alleged threats against the president or seeming to make threats against the president and has certainly been a thorn in this president's side throughout his two terms in office. So definitely a good question to ask. This is, you know, you have probably one of the coolest jobs in Washington and this is something you and I have talked about before where, you know, it's kind of odd you get used to certain things, right? Like for a reporter going into the White House briefing room for the first time is like you know, it's just like going through the Golden Gates, right? It's like you've made it. But then eventually, you know, you do it 10, 15, 20 times and, you know, it's, it's still amazing if you stop and think about it. But in the moment, right, it's, it's, you're kind of just in a room. Um, do you find yourself at this point having, you know, more than 5, less than 10 trips on, on Air Force One? Is it, are you, are you just sort of like used to it?

Is there part of you that's like, oh, this is the thing that I do now? Or is it, is it just kind of like a shocking experience every time?

I would say I'm not used to it yet. And, you know, I think the plus to having gone on Air Force One a number of times now is that it's not as intimidating, though I'm not used to it. So I can focus more on my questions, I can focus more on getting the president's attention, and less on just kind of being astounded by the circumstances I'm finding myself in. And I would say I enjoy it more now too. I know what I'm expecting. I can focus on my work and also enjoy the experience. Um, but I hope I never get used to it because it's very surreal.

Yeah. And you've never traveled internationally with the president, right? Because I imagine that's probably a sort of beast of a different nature, you know, kind of in its own right. Like a long— like the press pool that was with him on his trip to China, you know, that's a very— I imagine those are probably sort of— you only— different than the domestic flights.

So no, I haven't traveled with the president internationally yet. That is quite expensive and quite a feat to do. But what I have heard from reporters who do travel with the president internationally, and actually Secretary Rubio has joked about this too, is that the president doesn't sleep on these international flights. So he is up and at it most of the time. And there have been occasions where he's come back and startled the press and gaggled with them when they were not fully awake. So that's a little bit daunting prospect to imagine. But I think Secretary Rubio has talked about how when he's on an international flight with the president, there was one occasion where he just went and lay on a couch and went to sleep and put a shirt over his head so that the president wouldn't see him when he walked by. Because, um, what I'm hearing is that the president will just wake people up, and I need my beauty sleep. So that's an interesting one.

It sounds about right. I think, you know, one thing that I do just want to— I kind of circle back to— you've mentioned it a couple times, but the fact that news outlets pay for these trips. I think that's something that people don't really— that's something we don't really know. It's something I didn't know until you started going on these trips. But, right, I think that sort of, you know, sheds new light on what it's like and, you know, what the literal cost, right, of getting access to the president, right? It's, you know, theoretically anyone can join, just like anyone can apply for a White House press pass or, you know, accreditation to go to these events. But, you know, it really— that's why I think, right, you see still many of the usual suspects, right? Caitlin Collins at CNN, people from NBC, CBS, these, these bigger outlets who have the resources to send their reporters to China and say, you know, like, pay for whatever, it doesn't matter. But, right, is that a little— do you ever feel a little daunting coming from, you know, kind of a newer, scrappier outlet and, you know, knowing that this is not something that you get to do kind of as often and as freely as some of the, your colleagues in the press pool?

Absolutely. I mean, it's a good reminder, right, that not everyone is coming from the same playing field. And so it's such a privilege for myself to, from The Daily Wire, to be on the president's plane or on the vice president's plane traveling with them. But, you know, when we see other outlets that are paying upwards of $50,000 to go on some of these international trips, that's crazy, right? That's a lot of money. And not everyone can afford that. There's plenty of outlets that couldn't even dream of paying that to go on such a trip. So definitely a good reminder of what the playing field looks like. And it makes me value going on the president's plane as much as I can.

And is that due— and you might not know, but I'm curious— like, is that the, the cost, right? Is that an attempt by the, you know, is that sort of necessary to defer the cost, to cover the cost of the plane? Or is it an ethics thing, like reporters can't fly free on the plane because it might count as, you know, sort of like an in-kind gift? Do you know, is it— what, what's the reason outlets having to pay for the reporters to be on these flights?

Well, my understanding is that it's the latter, that, um, reporters are supposed to pay their way and not accept gifts. I have heard speculation that the flights are funded by the reporters paying their passage, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. And that is kind of the going theory.

Interesting. Well, something definitely to look into and something that I'm sure, you know, we'll get more clarity on as you hit your 10th 15th, 20th, even more of these flights on Air Force One. Mary Margaret O'Leary is The Daily Wire's White House correspondent. Mary Margaret, always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much for taking us behind the scenes of Air Force One and bringing us behind the story.

Thanks so much for having me.