A credible Iranian assassination plot aimed at US President Donald Trump prompted an unprecedented covert operation last month in which he was secretly flown out of Turkey aboard an alternate military aircraft while the White House falsely maintained he was traveling on Air Force One, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
The covert relocation - which remained completely undisclosed until now - was executed without the knowledge of embedded reporters or several White House staffers who believed they were traveling on the same aircraft as the president, according to operational documentation reviewed by The Post, a US official familiar with the mission, and another source knowledgeable about presidential travel arrangements.
Publicly, administration officials maintained that Trump departed Turkey on July 8 aboard the legacy Air Force One. Trump previously stated on social media that he would utilize the "former Air Force One" rather than the Boeing 747-8 gifted to the US by Qatar, an aircraft whose security measures faced public scrutiny and which Trump indicated would undergo further defensive enhancements.
While in Ankara, Trump walked onto the legacy Air Force One jumbo jet in full view of news cameras. Minutes later, however, he was covertly transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A transport plane using an airport catering truck normally reserved for loading inflight meals, according to the US official and supporting records reviewed by The Post. That maneuver effectively turned the primary Air Force One into a "decoy" carrying journalists and White House personnel, the official noted.
Trump had been attending a NATO summit in Ankara with international leaders. The operation transpired the night after American forces launched renewed airstrikes against Iranian targets on Trump's orders following a collapse in talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending their months-long conflict.
The maneuver effectively masked Trump's true location from the public and numerous senior U.S. officials for hours. Weeks later, it remains unclear how widely the administration disclosed the security operation internally.
When presented with detailed reporting and questions, White House communications director Steven Cheung released a statement defending the Qatari-provided plane.
“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff," Cheung stated, adding, “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."
A Defense Department spokesperson referred all inquiries to the White House, while a Secret Service representative did not reply to requests for comment.
Official White House accounts continued to state publicly that the president departed Turkey on the legacy blue-and-white Boeing 747 used as Air Force One prior to Trump utilizing the Qatari aircraft.
The account from The Washington Post follows a report from The New York Times last month confirming that a credible threat from Iranian proxy groups targeting Trump and his plane forced US officials to suddenly swap aircraft during his exit from Turkey.
During the plane switch, reports surfaced indicating Israeli intelligence had alerted US agencies regarding Iranian assassination plots targeting Trump. Some US officials received the Israeli intelligence cautiously, concerned it might represent an attempt to push Trump toward escalating military action against Tehran.
However, sources informed The New York Times that the specific security hazard in Turkey that forced the emergency plane switch was distinct from the intelligence shared by Israel.
During the summit, the US resumed military strikes on Iranian targets while Trump remained in Ankara, approximately 1,000 miles from Tehran. Addressing reporters regarding the aircraft change, Trump explicitly referenced Iranian efforts to target him.
“They want to take out the US leader - me," he stated, continuing, “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long."