U.S. President Donald Trump used a secret military flight and an airport catering truck to change planes while departing Turkey last month to avoid an Iranian assassination threat, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times. The reports, citing unnamed U.S. officials, describe a security operation designed to deceive potential attackers as the president traveled from a NATO summit in Ankara to Britain.
The White House and President Trump previously stated he was traveling on an older Air Force One aircraft for the journey. However, the Post reported that after boarding the primary plane in public view, the president was secretly moved via a catering truck to a smaller Air Force C-32A for the flight. The older Air Force One continued the trip with members of the press and some White House staff who reportedly believed the president was still on board.
The security measure followed the president's use of a newly renovated Boeing 747, donated by Qatar, for his arrival in Turkey. While the president publicly claimed he switched to the older "baby blue" plane for sentimental reasons, the Post reported the change was triggered by a credible threat. Reporters on the decoy flight were instructed to keep window shades closed, a restriction Trump later attributed to the flight being "dangerous" during a brief interaction with the press upon arrival in Britain.
The scale of the operation involved at least three distinct aircraft: the Qatar-donated Boeing 747, an older Air Force One, and a C-32A. While specific costs for this specific maneuver were not reported, the Qatar-donated jet underwent refitting by L3Harris Technologies to serve as a temporary replacement for the long-delayed next-generation Air Force One fleet. For the traveling press and staff, the immediate day-to-day change was a loss of transparency regarding their location and the president's presence, along with specific instructions to obscure their view of the tarmac and surroundings by closing window shades.
These events set a precedent for how the U.S. government manages executive travel during periods of heightened tension with foreign states, specifically Iran, which borders Turkey. The reliance on donated and refitted aircraft, such as the Qatari jet, underscores ongoing delays in the production of new presidential aircraft by Boeing. What happens next involves continued security assessments by the White House; Communications Director Steve Cheung stated that the administration will continue to use all available tools to address threats from foreign enemies, though the Pentagon has not yet issued a formal response to the reports.