Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Sunday said his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet needed to be sent off for month and "maxed out" after reports of security concerns.

Trump only took his first flight on the retrofitted Boeing 747–8 plane on July 1, but questions quickly swirled after he took an older jet home from a NATO meeting in Ankara on July 10.

The New York Times reported the new plane lacked the same security countermeasures, including antimissile defenses, as the older planes. Its reporters were then subpoenaed by the Trump administration.

"It has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out," Trump told reporters when asked why he was still flying on a plane without full defensive capabilities.

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"So they're going to be sending it, and they'll have it be maxed out. It'll take about a month."

Trump, who was speaking after flying back to Washington from the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey, did not give details about how the plane would be "maxed out."

The 80-year-old Republican has previously played down any suggestion of problems with the new aircraft, and had originally said he sent the plane on ahead from Ankara to an airbase in the UK so service members could see it.

Qatar's royal family donated the luxury airliner last year after Trump complained about the state of the two aging jets that have served as the presidential plane since 1990.

The aircraft features a new Trump-designed livery in red, white, and navy blue, in a change from the previous white and light blue livery.