Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Report: Trump Took Secret Flight Trom Turkey Amid Iranian Threat

A catering truck is parked beside the legacy Air Force One before departure from Ankara Esenboga Airport
in Turkey on July 8. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

An Iranian assassination threat against President Donald Trump prompted a previously unreported secret operation last month in which he departed Turkey aboard an alternate military aircraft while the White House publicly stated he was flying on Air Force One. Trump boarded the older Air Force One jumbo jet in full view of television cameras in Ankara on July 8 after a NATO summit. 

Minutes later, he was covertly transferred via an airport catering truck to a smaller Air Force C-32A, according to a U.S. official familiar with the operation, another person with knowledge of the president’s travel, and material reviewed by The Washington Post. 



The larger plane served as a decoy carrying journalists and some White House staff members who believed the president was aboard. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.


The deception operation was set in motion by a credible Iranian threat against Trump or his aircraft, the official said. It occurred the night after U.S. forces renewed military strikes on Iran at Trump’s direction following the collapse of negotiations aimed at ending months of conflict between Washington and Tehran. Trump’s actual location remained concealed from the American public and many senior U.S. officials for hours. 

Weeks later, it remains unclear how widely the administration has disclosed the details.

The administration had announced that Trump would return on the former Air Force One rather than the newer Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar, whose security has faced questions. Trump later said the Qatar plane would undergo additional upgrades. The New York Times and CBS News reported last month that intelligence officials had flagged a specific threat of an attack on the president or his jet, prompting extra precautions.

The episode underscored the depth of concern among U.S. security officials about Trump’s safety leaving Turkey, a NATO ally that shares a border with Iran, amid heightened hostilities. Decades-old worries about Iranian terrorism plots against American officials, including Trump, have intensified recently due to Washington’s role in the killings of Iranian military and political leaders.
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