President Trump was covertly removed from Air Force One in an airport catering truck last month and flown out of Turkey on a separate military aircraft after a threat from Iran, according to a new report.
The unusual security operation, detailed by the Washington Post on Monday, meant reporters and some White House personnel left the annual NATO Summit in Ankara on July 8 believing the president was traveling with them.
Instead, they were effectively part of a decoy operation while Trump departed aboard a smaller Air Force C-32A.
According to the report, the carefully staged maneuver began with Trump publicly boarding an older version of Air Force One. He was then quietly moved off the aircraft through a catering truck raised to a door on the opposite side of the presidential plane’s main entrance.
Trump was joined by “several aides” inside the container, which was lowered onto a truck on the tarmac and driven to the nearby Air Force C-32A. There, the container was lifted again to a door, apparently enabling the president and his aides to board the alternate aircraft without being seen.
The C-32A, like the older presidential jet, featured the familiar blue-and-white exterior and the words “United States of America” along its side, the Washington Post reported.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth also traveled on the secret flight with Trump, but he boarded separately via external stairs in an effort “to make the flight appear typical,” a US official told the newspaper.
After leaving Ankara, the C-32A carrying Trump touched down at Mildenhall Air Force Base in the United Kingdom. It arrived roughly nine minutes before the Air Force One flight carrying reporters and White House staff landed at the same base.
Television cameras and media reports note Trump descended the external stairs from Air Force One about 25 minutes after the plane landed. It’s unclear how the president moved from the C-32A to the other plane.
At Mildenhall, Trump, White House staff and reporters boarded the $400 million Qatari-gifted jet that the president flew into Turkey on.
At the time, speculation swirled as to why the older Air Force One was being used to depart Turkey rather than the newer and more luxurious plane.
The White House and Trump denied that the switcheroo was related to a threat from Iran or security concerns with the new plane, which Trump is using as a temporary Air Force One while Boeing finishes work on permanent replacement planes.
Once aboard the Qatari-gifted jet, Trump went to the back of the plane and spoke with reporters for several minutes without letting on that he was not on the plane with them for the first-leg of the flight.
The secret operation was set in motion due to a “credible” Iranian threat against Trump’s life, a US official told the Washington Post. The official did not elaborate on the exact nature of the threat.
Several outlets reported last month that intelligence officials flagged a specific threat against the president, triggering the plane switch.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel tipped the US off about a potential Iranian assassination plot targeting Trump.
The White House on Monday night did not deny the report of Trump’s secret flight out of Turkey.
When reached for comment about the report, White House communications director Steven Cheung touted the safety of the Qatari-gifted jet.
“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” Cheung said in a statement. “As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”
The White House also pointed to a statement from the Air Force touting the so-called “palace in the sky” plane.
“The aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission,” read the statement. “Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.
“No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”
