By SUZANNE DOWNING
Nov. 14, 2026 — President Donald Trump is expected to make an Anchorage stop Monday, prompting temporary flight restrictions across Anchorage and portions of the surrounding region.
The restrictions are scheduled from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm Alaska Standard Time, with a tightly restricted inner zone extending 10 nautical miles from the designated center and an outer boundary reaching 30 nautical miles.
The FAA has separately published a “VIP” movement notification for Anchorage on Nov. 16, extending from the surface through 17,999 feet above sea level. Air Force One will likely be stopping at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for fuel and a short layover on the way to the Philippines.
The Anchorage stop comes ahead of Trump’s expected arrival in Manila on Nov. 17 for the ASEAN-US Special Summit. Philippine officials have also confirmed plans for a bilateral meeting between Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
For Alaska’s general aviation community, the restrictions will temporarily interrupt a wide range of operations. Airports that will be affected including Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Merrill Field, Lake Hood, Birchwood, Wasilla, Palmer, Big Lake, and Girdwood, along with numerous lake-based aviation facilities in the region.
Within the inner 10-nautical-mile zone, most aircraft operations will be prohibited during the TFR. Exceptions include approved law enforcement flights, military aircraft directly supporting presidential security, approved air ambulance flights, and qualifying regularly scheduled passenger and cargo carriers operating under specified Transportation Security Administration security programs.
Those exceptions mean the notice does not impose a blanket shutdown of scheduled airline service.
Emergency and lifesaving flights must coordinate with air traffic control before departure to avoid potential delays, according to the notice.
Within the outer ring, between 10 and 30 nautical miles from the center, flights generally will be limited to arrivals and departures at local airfields. Air traffic controllers may authorize transit flights as workload permits, but aircraft may not loiter.
Pilots operating in that outer ring must have an active instrument flight plan or a filed visual flight rules flight plan, use an assigned discrete transponder code, and maintain two-way radio communications with air traffic control. The notice prohibits flight training, practice instrument approaches, sightseeing, maintenance test flights, seaplane operations, and utility or pipeline survey flights. Drones, model aircraft, and model rockets are included in the restrictions.
Weather is expected to be snowy, with a front bringing in up to nine inches of snow on Sunday to Anchorage. The Alaska Story has received no notifications about official visits while Trump is on the ground.
Updated restrictions are here: FAA’s temporary flight restriction website.
4 thoughts on “Incoming: Trump’s planned Anchorage stop brings flight restrictions Monday”
Is Trump on the ground long enough to take a piss on Bronson’s driveway?
Would prefer that the Trumpster remain on JBER. I am worried that he might destroy what remains of Alaska conservatives if he steps off.
Trump hasn’t destroyed conservatives, conservatives have destroyed themselves for Trump.
Why do you think Trump had so much support for so long?
Yeah. It is your first thought. The left was worse.
Enjoy your pyrrhic victory that America First gave you this election.
I am going to really enjoy what is already happening- for example with Jefferies and Schumer. You have the same donors and the same problems as us and now there is a lefty version of American First that you have to deal with. And then there is the DSA…
You think there is a great love for dems? You are hated just as bad. When you realize that (again) it is going to be delicious.