President Donald Trump was covertly moved off Air Force One and onto a smaller military aircraft minutes before departure from Ankara's international airport following last month's NATO summit, according to reporting by The Washington Post and CBS News. The operation was triggered by U.S. intelligence detecting a credible Iranian plot to fire a missile at the presidential aircraft as it departed Turkey on July 8. Trump was transferred to an Air Force C-32A using an airport catering truck, a vehicle typically used to load meals onto aircraft, while the switch was obscured from view.

Members of the traveling press corps and some White House staff remained aboard the legacy Air Force One, flying the same Ankara-to-RAF Mildenhall route as the president while unaware that Trump was not on board. Reporters were instructed to keep window shades in the press cabin closed during the departure; Trump later told reporters they were 'probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags that we have to deal with.' The Trump administration has not publicly disclosed that journalists and staffers were effectively flying as unwitting decoys. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement that '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 deception was layered on top of a separate cover story Trump offered publicly before departure. Hours earlier, he announced he would fly home on the older, baby-blue Air Force One rather than the newer Qatari-donated and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he had arrived on, saying the switch was 'for old time's sake' and would give U.S. troops stationed at RAF Mildenhall a chance to view the new plane. CBS News reported the Secret Service had in fact advised Trump to take the older aircraft for security reasons. Trump reunited with the newer Qatari-gifted plane at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England, and flew the transatlantic leg back to Washington aboard it.

The revelations come against the backdrop of heightened U.S.-Iran tensions. During Trump's stay in Ankara, the U.S. military conducted significant strikes inside Iran following Iranian-linked attacks on commercial shipping. Trump himself acknowledged the threat environment during the summit, calling himself Iran's 'number one target.' Intelligence warnings about a possible attack on the president or his aircraft had been reported previously by The New York Times and CBS News, contributing to the decision to avoid using the new Qatari plane for the initial departure leg.

Multiple Trump administration officials expressed frustration Monday evening that the classified tactics and protective procedures had become public, warning that disclosure could limit the effectiveness of future presidential security operations. The Secret Service declined to comment, and the Air Force directed inquiries to the White House. Questions also persist about the security credentials of the new Qatari-donated aircraft; Trump said last month the plane would undergo additional upgrades, while Cheung maintained it remains 'a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level' security features.