Trump swapped planes via catering truck over Iran threat
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- Trump secretly swapped planes as he left a NATO summit in Turkey last month, boarding Air Force One on camera before being smuggled to a C-32A military aircraft via a catering truck elevated to plane level on the opposite side, the Washington Post reports.
- Officials told CBS News the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at Trump's plane; the White House has not confirmed the secret switch.
- Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs to make the flight appear normal, while journalists and some White House staff remained on the decoy Air Force One unaware Trump had left.
- Reporters on the decoy jet were told by the Secret Service to close window shades; the C-32A used call sign "Reach 18" while the press plane continued using "AF1" to sustain the ruse.
- Trump told reporters after the flight the window shade request was because "you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with," and said he is Iran's "number one" target.
- Trump reboarded the original Air Force One in the UK at RAF Mildenhall before transferring to the Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete."
- The New York Times previously reported the Secret Service urged Trump to switch planes; several NYT journalists were summoned to testify under oath, and the Justice Department told the BBC it is investigating illegal leaks.
Why it matters: The elaborate deception — decoy aircraft, shuttered windows, and a press corps unknowingly flying on an empty Air Force One — shows how seriously US intelligence assessed the Iranian threat, serious enough to override standard presidential travel protocols at a NATO summit. The $400m Qatari-donated jet replacing the original, which carries missile-blinding laser technology, remains at least a month from full security upgrades, leaving Trump reliant on older planes with countermeasures for now.
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