Trump reportedly used decoy Air Force One to hide Turkey departure
An Iranian assassination threat prompted Trump to slip off Air Force One through a catering truck and onto a military jet, while a decoy flew on to the U.K.
An Iranian assassination threat prompted a covert transfer of Donald Trump from Air Force One to a smaller military jet in Turkey, with a catering truck used to hide his departure. The arrangement kept his location concealed for hours and, in some accounts, left many senior administration officials unaware of where he was.
The Washington Post said the secret operation followed Trump’s NATO summit stop in Turkey and relied on a decoy Air Force One to carry on toward the United Kingdom while Trump was moved separately. Multiple reports described him leaving the presidential aircraft by way of an airport catering truck before boarding a smaller military plane, with one account identifying the aircraft as a C-32A. ABC News said the report described Trump using a secret military plane last month, while CNN said Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe discussed the details of the episode in terms that matched the hidden transfer in Turkey.
The secrecy around the departure was not limited to disguising the route from the public. The Post’s account said the operation was designed to keep Trump’s actual location obscured for several hours, and that the concealment extended even within parts of the government. The reported move came as Trump was leaving Turkey after the summit, with the decoy jet continuing onward and Trump departing on the smaller aircraft instead.
The timing of the flight also tracked with earlier reporting on the same trip. CBS News said Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey on the older Air Force One jet rather than the newer plane donated by Qatar. The New York Times said the Secret Service urged Trump not to use the Qatari-donated jet when he left Ankara on July 24, 2026, and later said on Aug. 10 that Trump hid in an airport catering cart before being taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of the country after the summit.
Reuters reported on Aug. 11, 2026, that Trump flew secretly from Turkey because of an Iranian threat. The broader context remained tense as U.S.-Iran talks and Gulf frictions continued in the region, underscoring why the security posture around Trump’s travel was treated as unusually sensitive.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
