President Donald Trump and his staff orchestrated an "elaborate ruse" to sneak out of Turkey on a military aircraft, leaving the press on a "decoy" Air Force One flight.
The elaborate deception was triggered by a credible Iranian assassination threat detected as Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey, reported The Washington Post on Monday. The operation was so tightly held that it fooled even people traveling with the president.
"The clandestine mission ... was carried out unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members," according to the report.
The scramble followed intelligence pointing to a possible plot by Iran and allied proxy groups to fire a missile at Trump's plane, according to multiple outlets including CBS News and The New York Times.
Trump had flown to Ankara aboard the flashy new $400 million Boeing 747-8 given by Qatar, but the Secret Service swapped him onto one of the decades-old VC-25A jets that traditionally carry the Air Force One call sign for the flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom, reportedly because the older planes carry defensive countermeasures, including laser technology designed to blind incoming missiles, that the newer Qatari jet may lack.
"To exit that plane without being seen by those uninvolved in the operation, Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated plane-side using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One’s entrance, according to the U.S. official and other corroborating material," the report reads.
At the time, Trump downplayed any security angle publicly, telling reporters he was flying the old plane "for old time's sake" while acknowledging he was "No. 1 on the list for killing" as far as Iran was concerned.
It's not the first time Trump's team has relied on decoy aircraft to protect him. During his 2024 campaign, after an assassination attempt at his Florida golf club, aides similarly put him on a plane owned by ally Steve Witkoff while staff flew separately on his usual jet, unaware he wasn't aboard until takeoff.
After leaks last month about the extent of the security threat on the new Qatari plane, Trump's then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, since appointed Director of National Intelligence, moved for subpoenas against New York Times reporters.
