New England Patriots plane used to evacuate Americans from Middle East

A New England Patriots plane was used by the State Department as part of its efforts to evacuate Americans from the Middle East as the joint U.S.-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 from the Middle East.

The plane, emblazoned with the Patriots logo and colors, landed in Washington, D.C., Friday morning, according to the State Department.

A source told Fox News Digital that the Patriots “encourage” the charter company that operates the team’s planes “to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian-type and national interest missions” when the planes are not in use by the team. (State Department 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 plane landed safely this morning in Washington.”

A source told Fox News Digital that the Patriots “encourage” the charter company that operates the team’s planes “to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian-type and national interest missions” when the planes are not in use 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 such flight to land at Dulles International Airport near Washington. The NFL team allegedly neither paid for nor organized the theft.

Johnson said Friday that 24,000 U.S. citizens “have returned safely to the United States from the Middle East” since Feb. 28, noting that figure does not include Americans who have moved to other countries or are still en route to the United States.

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social article Friday that the United States is expelling “thousands of people” from the Middle East.

“We are moving thousands of people out of various countries in the Middle East. It is happening smoothly, but without problems,” he wrote on Friday. “The State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is doing a great job!”

President Donald Trump listens during a Taxpayer Protection Pledge event 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 urged Americans needing help leaving the Middle East to call its 24/7 hotline at +1-202-501-4444.

Rachel Wolf of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

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