On a rainy Sunday, President Donald Trump had a brief run-in with an umbrella that turned heads. The 79-year-old was boarding Air Force One when things got unexpectedly tricky. He climbed the stairs, gave his usual thumbs-up to onlookers, and then tried folding the large black umbrella. It jammed, and for a few seconds, the president wrestled with it in the doorway as the rain poured down. An aide rushed over to help. Trump then handed it off, looking like he’d just lost a small battle.
The scene had the awkward humor of a TV show, but its timing made it stick out. The moment came just two days after Trump’s second “annual” physical in six months. His doctor, Sean Barbabella, called his health “exceptional.” But that clean bill didn’t quiet the whispers about Trump’s well-being. For months, people noticed bruising on his hand. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, chalked it up to “soft tissue irritation” from too much handshaking and aspirin use. His ankles also looked puffy; the White House later confirmed he has chronic venous insufficiency, a common issue in older adults. Then, in August, Trump disappeared from public view for four days!
Still, the umbrella incident got people talking because it felt familiar. Footage from Donald Trump’s first term shows him leaving another umbrella behind at the bottom of Air Force One’s stairs. He didn’t even try to close it that time. But beyond the viral clip, there’s something bigger about Air Force One itself. That plane is flying proof of America’s power and steadiness through the years.
Donald Trump struggles to get his umbrella inside Air Force One before he heads out to Mar-a-Lago to go golfing again.
This man is a global laughingstock. pic.twitter.com/FtTMt0XeHl
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 11, 2025
Every president from Lyndon Johnson onward has flown aboard “Air Force One,” which is the radio name for whatever Air Force jet carries the commander-in-chief. Johnson sometimes used a smaller Beechcraft King Air for quick hops between Washington and his Texas ranch. Nixon once bucked tradition entirely, flying commercial on a United Airlines DC-10 back in ’73, saying he wanted to conserve fuel.
The presidential fleet’s seen plenty of variety over the years. Remember George W. Bush landing on an aircraft carrier in a Navy jet they called “Navy One” for his famous “Mission Accomplished” moment? Or Barack Obama slipping quietly into New York on a Gulfstream to catch a Broadway play? The skies tell their own stories about how presidents get around.
Modern presidents use a smaller backup plane when the massive Air Force One jet doesn’t suit the mission. That modified Boeing 757 (called the C-32) lets them travel more discreetly. Joe Biden used this exact approach last year when he slipped into Ukraine through Poland. In that context, Trump’s umbrella struggle feels almost symbolic. Here was the world’s most famous aircraft, suddenly upstaged by a gust of wind. Even with all the security surrounding these flights, human clumsiness can steal the show.
The White House hasn’t responded to the incident yet, since the internet always runs wild with moments like these. People are buzzing about Donald Trump’s health, but his public appearances, even when he struggles with an umbrella, show he still knows how to make any little thing go viral. And on that plane? Some staffer probably earned a raise…or at least a free sturdy umbrella.
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