U.S. President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One to board the new Qatari-gifted Boeing plane, en route to the United States following his participation in the NATO Summit at Royal Air Force Mildenhall on July 08, 2026, in Mildenhall, England. Acco …
The NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey last month, ended with a ruse to safely get President Trump out of the country due to Iranian assassination threats against him, according to The Washington Post.
Dig deeper:
On Monday, the newspaper published a story that Trump flew out of Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House made it appear that he was flying on Air Force One with journalists and some White House staff members believing they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington.
In its report, the Post cited material reviewed by the newspaper, a U.S. official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the president’s travel. The Associated Press and FOX Local have not independently confirmed the report.
President Trump flew to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted jet but before departing Turkey, Trump said he would fly partway home on an older-model Air Force One plane instead, while the new Air Force One was flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom to give some U.S. troops based there a chance to check out the new Air Force One.
In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to the United Kingdom. But according to the Post report, after Trump boarded the legacy Air Force One jet, he was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies. He then flew on the smaller jet to Mildenhall.
What they're saying:
The U.S. Secret Service declined to comment and the White House did not respond directly to questions about the Post report of the secret operation to safely get Trump out of the country, but White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement:
"As the President has said recently, 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 Air Force, which maintains the fleet of executive travel aircraft, has referred all questions to the White House.
The Source: This article includes information from The Washington Post and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.