President Donald Trump was covertly removed from Air Force One and transported in a catering truck as part of a security operation to evade a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the presidential aircraft. The clandestine transfer occurred on July 8 as Trump departed Ankara, Turkey, following a NATO summit.
At approximately 8:28 p.m., moments before Air Force One was scheduled to depart, Trump was escorted into a catering truck along with a small group of trusted aides. This group included executive assistant Natalie Harp and director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta. A separate report indicated White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino was also part of this three-person team accompanying the president.
The operation involved lowering the catering truck from the side of Air Force One to the tarmac. The group then proceeded to a waiting C-32A military jet, which then departed. To maintain the illusion that the president was still aboard the larger aircraft, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly made a visible show of boarding the military jet.
Meanwhile, journalists and other White House staff on board Air Force One were unaware of the president's departure, effectively making the larger aircraft a decoy. Some senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, were aware of Trump's alternate route, but lower-level staff were reportedly not informed.
A source familiar with the matter described Harp's selection to accompany Trump as a