Daily Caller‘s White House correspondent Reagan Reese reviewed the food on board Air Force One after a two-day trip following the President to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
First was beef ragu, a spring salad and key lime pie. She says the beef ragu was hearty, enerous, with enough sauce and meat to feel like a real entrée. The salad had crisp greens, fruit, and a light tangy dressing, but the key lime pie was weak, apparently not tart enough.
Then came an Italian sub with kettle chips and chocolate chip cookie on the shorter Las Vegas – Phoenix leg where Delta will no longer even serve water in coach. The Italian sub was on an asiago bagel. The chocolate chip cookie was the standout.
She really enjoyed her lobster salad, croissant and chocolate cake. The press pool was not getting a biscoff or pretzels. The onboard food was legitimately good.
🧵4/7: An interruption of the review to talk about the Diet Coke:
You can order just about anything on AF1. I’ve watched reporters crack open a beer after a long haul with the president. But my colleague and I had made a pact before the weekend even started: if you’re flying on… pic.twitter.com/60isnc9WH9
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) May 8, 2026
🧵6/7: Meal Three: Lobster Salad | Croissant | Chocolate Cake | Diet Coke
In general, seafood is just not my thing. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had lobster, if at all. Normally I’d be unenthused by the idea of having a sea creature for dinner. But it’s Air Force… pic.twitter.com/K7Z6Ww0nkw
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) May 8, 2026
Air Force One has two galleys for meal service. The 89th Airlift Wing assigns military flight attendants to buy ingredients and prepare meals based on passenger preferences. The food handling is kept tightly controlled for security.
Joint Base Andrews describes culinary training for ‘special air mission’ flight attendants, including work with White House Mess and vice presidential residence chefs. That’s a bit reminiscent of Etihad hiring actual former restaurant chefs as first class flight attendants in pre-pandemic times. Other airlines have had onboard chef programs as well.
There’s plenty of diet coke here, but in Trump fashion people want to know “where’s the Big Mac and fries?” Air Force One menus are generally designed to please the president and top staff. Their meals can be handled differently than the traveling press pool’s food.
Press travel costs are actually billed to their employer. Generally a domestic meal is priced $20 – $25. Here’s one billed at $23.
The modified Boeing 747-200B (‘VC-25A’) has about 4,000 square feet of interior space. The President’s suite includes bedrooma, dressing room, lavatory, shower, and office. There’s a conference room (that doubles as dining room), office space, communications areas, and staff areas. The medical suite can function as an operating room, staffed with a doctor always on board. There’s an in-flight refueling capability to extend beyond the plane’s range of about 7,800 statute miles.
The ‘Air Force One’ name dates to 1953, when Eastern Air Lines flight 8610 entered President Eisenhower’s airspace while he was on board. Its moniker was Air Force 8610. To avoid confusion, Air Force One was for the aircraft carrying the President.
Up until 1962, the President flew in plane with standard commercial configuration. The first jet customized for Presidential use was a Boeing 707 that debuted in 1962. First Lady Jackie Kennedy commissioned a designer interior.
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