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A New England Patriots plane was used by the State Department as part of efforts to move Americans out of the Middle East as the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran entered its seventh day.
Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, posted a photo on X showing Americans boarding a charter flight out of the Middle East. The plane, displaying the Patriots logo and colors, landed in Washington, DC, on Friday morning, according to the State Department.
A source told Pakinomist Digital that the Patriots “encourage” the charter company that operates the team planes “to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian and national missions” when the planes are not being used by the team. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs via X)
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“Americans boarding one of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East for the United States,” Johnson wrote on X. “This flight landed safely this morning in Washington.”
A source told Pakinomist Digital that the Patriots “encourage” the charter company that operates the team planes “to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian and national missions” when the planes are not being used by the team.
The New England Patriots team plane delivers N95 masks from Shenzhen, China to Logan International Airport in Boston on April 2, 2020 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Associated Press reported Friday that the Patriots plane was the second plane to land at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. The NFL team reportedly did not pay for or arrange the flight.
Johnson said Friday that the 24,000 American citizens “have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East” since Feb. 28, noting that the number did not include Americans who have moved to other countries or are still on their way to the United States
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday that the United States is moving “thousands of people” out of the Middle East.
“We are moving thousands of people out of various countries throughout the Middle East. It is being done quietly, but seamlessly,” he wrote on Friday. “The State Department, under Secretary Marco Rubio, is doing a great job!”
President Donald Trump listens during an event on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
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The State Department has urged Americans who need help getting out of the Middle East to call its 24-hour hotline at +1-202-501-4444.
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