Americans board a New England Patriots charter plane that flew out of the Middle East and landed in Washington, D.C., Friday morning, a State Department official posted on social media.
Americans board a New England Patriots charter plane that flew out of the Middle East and landed in Washington, D.C., Friday morning, a State Department official posted on social media.Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
A New England Patriots plane is being used in the Trump administration’s efforts to bring home Americans stranded in the Middle East amid the widening war with Iran.
Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson posted an image on X at 8:11 a.m. on Friday showing people boarding the aircraft owned by the Kraft family. He did not disclose the location.
“Americans boarding one of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S.,” Johnson posted.
He added one more sentence: “This plane landed safely this morning in Washington.”
👀 Americans boarding one of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S.
This plane landed safely this morning in Washington. pic.twitter.com/2vYUK0Rmwg
— Dylan Johnson (@ASDylanJohnson) March 6, 2026
“Several flights have safely returned hundreds of Americans to the United States with additional flights scheduled to take place over the coming days, as security conditions allow,” Johnson said in a statement Friday.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Trump have known each other for years. While their friendship cooled after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the two men sat side by side in January at the premiere of “Melania” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Stacey James, a spokesman for the Patriots, did not immediately return a Globe request for information Friday.
The team purchased to two Boeing wide-body 767s in 2017, the Globe reported.
This is a developing story.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.