President Donald Trump secretly departed from the NATO summit in Turkey in July by using an airport catering truck as cover to board a smaller U.S. military aircraft, while a legacy Air Force One served as a decoy, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The maneuver was reportedly executed at Ankara airport amid intelligence indicating a credible Iranian threat against the president following U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets earlier that summer.
Trump had arrived in Turkey on July 8 aboard a new Boeing 747-8, a presidential aircraft gifted by Qatar. To counter the identified threat, U.S. security officials orchestrated a ruse on the tarmac.
According to the report, Trump walked up the stairs of the older, blue-and-white Boeing 747, waved to news cameras, and then entered the cabin. Shortly after, Trump and a small group of aides reportedly exited the plane and entered an airport catering truck positioned at an exit door. The truck then transported them to a nearby Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757.
Meanwhile, White House staff and reporters boarded the legacy 747, believing Trump was still inside. The media were instructed to close their window shades for takeoff, and the jet departed as a decoy. Flight-tracking data reviewed by the outlet indicated the decoy jet initially appeared on radar without a call sign before taking the customary ‘AF1’ call sign midflight, despite Trump not being aboard.
Trump then traveled covertly on the smaller C-32A to RAF Mildenhall in England, where it landed shortly before the decoy aircraft. It remains unclear how Trump transferred from the C-32A to the legacy Air Force One upon landing in the U.K. He later appeared before television cameras and descended the legacy aircraft’s stairs before boarding the new, Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 for the flight back to Washington.
When asked about the window shades being ordered down in Turkey, Trump reportedly told reporters that they were "probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with." He added that he faces constant threats and is "Number One" on Iran's target list.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung stated that 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." He added, "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 U.S. Air Force affirmed the safety of the new Air Force One jet, stating that "The aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission."