Air Force One is one of the most recognized aircraft in the world. It ferries the President of the United States from state-to-state and all over the globe. And when the president lands, he is usually greeted by leaders of that state or country. However, it’s not always the person in charge of the country.
That’s a point presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made during a speech in Washington recently.
He said, “when President Obama landed in Cuba on Air Force One, no leader was there, nobody, to greet him… perhaps an incident without precedent in the long and prestigious history of Air Force One.”
PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a HALF TRUE rating on the Truth-O-Meter.
PolitiFact Writer Josh Gillin said neither Fidel nor Raul Castro met President Obama when he arrived. In fact, it was the foreign minister.
“We couldn’t look at every single foreign visit, but although we know Obama did go to the Castros’ house and there was a big state dinner and a big welcoming ceremony," he said. "It sounded a lot like when Nixon went to China and he was met at the airport by their foreign minister."
For that reason, Trump’s statement received a HALF TRUE rating.
SOURCES: No Cuban leader met POTUS, Trump says
- Donald Trump, foreign policy address in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2016
- Donald Trump, tweet, March 20, 2016
- Associated Press, "The White House says it's taking no offense that Cuban President Raul Castro didn't greet President Barack Obama upon arrival in Havana," March 20, 2016
- Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, "Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History: Nixon Goes to China," accessed April 28, 2016
- New York Times, "Obama in Cuba," March 20, 2016
- Associated Press, "Pope arrives in Cuba for historic meeting," Feb. 12, 2016
- Voice of America, "Russian Orthodox Patriarch Arrives in Cuba for Historic Meeting," Feb. 11, 2016
- East Anglian Daily Times, "American President Barack Obama lands at Stansted Airport before eagerly anticipated EU stance speech," April 21, 2016
- Email interview with Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College and author of two books on Ronald Reagan, April 28, 2016
- Email interview with Craig Shirley, Reagan biographer, April 28, 2016
- Email interview with Nick Cullather, diplomatic historian at Indiana University, April 27, 2016
- Email interview with Alan K. Henrikson, a diplomatic historian at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, April 27, 2016
- Email interview with Ned Price, White House spokesman, April 28, 2016