In a stunning, meticulously planned security operation that has only recently come to light, former U.S. President Donald Trump executed a secret plane swap while departing last month’s NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey, responding to what U.S. intelligence assessed as a credible Iranian missile threat against his aircraft, multiple major U.S. media outlets have reported.
The elaborate ruse unfolded in broad daylight, with on-camera footage showing Trump boarding the decades-old legacy Air Force One jet at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport on July 8, matching a pre-announced plan to fly out on the older aircraft “for old time’s sake”. What cameras and most onlookers did not see, however, was that after exiting the jet on the opposite side of the boarding ramp, Trump was secretly transported to a smaller, modified C-32A military aircraft — a Boeing 757 variant typically reserved for vice presidential travel — via a catering truck elevated to aircraft height, the Washington Post first reported.
To maintain the ruse, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the empty legacy Air Force One separately via external stairs, selling the illusion that the president remained on board. Most journalists accompanying the presidential delegation, along with several junior White House staff, boarded the legacy jet and were instructed to close all window shades, remaining completely unaware that Trump had already been smuggled off the plane.
The secret flight then took Trump first to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. Air Force base in the United Kingdom, where he secretly transferred back to the legacy Air Force One, which had flown separately from Ankara. Press photographers on the ground captured Trump disembarking from the older jet at the British base, concealing the earlier swap from public view. From the UK, Trump transferred again to the newer Boeing 747-8 Air Force One, a jet donated to the U.S. by Qatar, to complete his journey back to Washington D.C.
It was during this final transatlantic leg that Trump addressed ongoing threats from Iran with reporters, confirming he faced constant danger but making no mention of the secret plane swap. When asked why journalists had been told to close their window shades on the flight departing Turkey, Trump brushed off the question with a blunt warning: “Because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with.” He reiterated his long-stated claim that he is Iran’s “number one target,” adding, “But if I go, you go, right? Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”
The operation came just one day after the U.S. renewed military strikes against Iranian targets, following a total breakdown in negotiations between Washington and Tehran to de-escalate ongoing conflict. U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that intelligence agencies had detected a specific, credible threat of an Iranian missile attack targeting Trump’s aircraft during departure from Turkey.
Officials have previously raised security questions about the Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which the U.S. has spent $400 million retrofitting for presidential use. The New York Times first reported that the U.S. Secret Service had explicitly urged Trump to switch planes for the return flight from the NATO summit over unresolved security concerns about the new jet. Older legacy Air Force One aircraft are fitted with specialized laser technology designed to blind incoming anti-aircraft missiles, and it remains unclear whether the Qatari-donated jet has received all the same defensive upgrades.
In an official statement to CBS News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to downplay security concerns, saying, “The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the President’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung declined to directly confirm or deny the reports of the plane swap, only noting that the new jet is a “state-of-the-art aircraft” fitted with robust protective measures for the president and his staff.
The revelation of the secret operation has also reignited controversy over the leaking of sensitive national security information. After The New York Times’ initial reporting on security concerns around the Qatari jet, multiple of the outlet’s journalists were subpoenaed to testify under oath about their sources. The U.S. Justice Department confirmed to the BBC that it is currently conducting an investigation into the illegal disclosure of classified information related to the incident.