US President ‌Donald Trump has had an embarrassing moment on the tarmac after the emergency slide on the presidential plane gifted by Qatar was accidentally deployed ‌and removed.

The slide was activated shortly before Trump was due to board Air Force One to fly to Dallas ‌for the ‌first ⁠Republican midterm convention.

The rollout – reportedly an accident by military personnel – briefly delayed Trump’s ​departure.

He remained in Marine One, the official presidential helicopter, for more than 20 minutes after landing at Joint Base Andrews, while the slide was deployed.

Asked later he was sure that the plane was safe to fly, Trump said: “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.

“They want to make sure everything works perfectly.”

The ⁠Boeing 747-8 typically has ‌12 ​emergency inflatable evacuation slides. The slides are designed to allow passengers to ​reach the ‌ground safely from a height of about nine metres.

The US Air ​Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July ​1 ​after accepting the plane as ​a gift in 2025. There ‌was an accelerated effort to renovate the 747 before Trump started using it.

Trump said last week the Boeing would be taken out of service in October for unspecified security upgrades that would ​take about 60 days.

-AAP