Donald Trump Confirms Secret Plane Switch After Nato Summit Due to Threat
US President Donald Trump reveals why he covertly slipped off Air Force One into a catering truck following the Nato summit in Turkey last month.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Trump confirms last-minute aircraft switch leaving Turkey after Nato summit
- US intelligence detected credible Iranian threat involving a shoulder-fired missile
- Secret operation used a catering truck to move Trump to a C-32A military jet
- Press association criticizes administration for exposing journalists to hidden dangers
President Donald Trump has officially confirmed that he secretly swapped aircraft as he departed from a Nato summit in Turkey last month, responding to a potential security threat. The revelation surfaced following reports that Trump initially boarded Air Force One on July 8 in full view of television cameras, only to hide inside a catering truck that transported him to an alternative military aircraft.
Officials speaking to BBC's US partner CBS News disclosed that the United States had detected a credible Iranian threat involving a potential missile strike targeting the presidential plane. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that US intelligence gathered information regarding an individual spotted near the Nato summit possessing a shoulder-fired missile. Journalists and certain White House staff members aboard were completely unaware that the president had been smuggled out through an elaborate ruse amid mounting tensions, Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
This clandestine plane switch underscores the intense personal and geopolitical stakes of the ongoing conflict between Washington and Tehran. The reliance on an elaborate decoy operation—smuggling a sitting US president via a catering service vehicle—highlights how seriously the Secret Service and intelligence agencies took the reported surface-to-air missile threat, even if leaving the press pool on the decoy aircraft raised significant safety and transparency concerns.
According to accounts detailed by The Washington Post, footage on July 8 captured Trump boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport. He subsequently slipped away onto a catering truck elevated to door-level on the opposite side of the aircraft, and was covertly transferred to a smaller C-32A military aircraft—a modified Boeing 757 typically utilized by the vice president. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately via external stairs to maintain the appearance of a routine flight.
Meanwhile, reporters and White House staff remaining on Air Force One were instructed to keep their window shades closed. A media pool producer noted that instructions to keep the shades down were unusual, and a photographer attempting to peek outside was quickly told to shut it. Observers also noted two catering trucks positioned at both ends of the plane, while the media van was kept too far back in the motorcade to capture the president boarding.
"The Trump administration has a responsibility to ensure that journalists covering the president are not unnecessarily exposed to danger."
Jose Zamora, Americas regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists
Cabinet members including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained aboard the original aircraft, according to The New York Times. Trump subsequently flew to the UK en route to the US, where he reboarded the legacy Air Force One and descended from the aircraft upon landing at RAF Mildenhall, later transferring to a Qatari-donated Air Force One for his return to Washington. Although the dramatic switch highlighted extreme security protocols, Jose Zamora of the Committee to Protect Journalists emphasized that reporters must be informed of credible threats to make informed safety decisions.
Source: BBC World
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