President Donald Trump says the Secret Service and U.S. military were behind the extraordinary decision to secretly move him off the presidential aircraft while he was leaving Turkey last month. The operation allowed Trump to fly to Britain aboard a smaller military jet while reporters and some White House staff continued on another plane believing the president was aboard.
The covert journey followed the July 8 NATO summit in Ankara and was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, according to a Washington Post investigation. Trump publicly boarded the older blue-and-white presidential 747 before being moved out of sight to an Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757.
Trump addressed the operation after details became public, saying he relies on the people responsible for his security when they decide how he should travel.
The operation remained undisclosed for more than a month. It also created an unusual situation in which the legacy presidential aircraft carrying journalists and White House personnel continued toward Britain without Trump, effectively serving as part of the deception.
Trump Says He Was Following Secret Service and Military Orders
Asked about the switch on August 11, Trump said the decision was not his. “I go by Secret Service and the military,” he said in comments reported by TMZ. “They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane.” Trump added, “I just have to do what they say.”
When asked about the underlying danger, Trump said he believed there had been a threat but had not sought many details. “I guess there was a threat out there,” he said. “I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”
The Washington Post reported that the operation followed intelligence about a potential Iranian assassination threat as tensions between Washington and Tehran were escalating.
A Catering Truck Concealed Trump’s Move to a Smaller Aircraft
The transfer was designed to conceal Trump’s whereabouts from people who were not involved in the operation. After cameras captured him climbing the stairs and entering the legacy presidential 747 in Ankara, Trump and several aides exited through a door on the opposite side of the aircraft and entered an airport catering truck that had been raised to the plane, according to the Post’s reporting and material it reviewed.
The truck was then lowered and driven toward a nearby Air Force C-32A. The Post identified White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, executive assistant Natalie Harp and Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta among those who made the concealed move with Trump.
No Cabinet officials were in the catering truck. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately using its external stairs, according to the Post, and then traveled with Trump to Britain aboard the smaller aircraft. Meanwhile, members of the White House press corps boarded the legacy 747 and were instructed to keep their window shades closed. Some White House staff also believed Trump remained aboard.
The C-32A carrying Trump flew to Britain under the nondescript call sign “Reach 18.” The Post reported that the legacy 747 later displayed the “AF1” call sign during its flight despite Trump not being aboard.
Trump Says His Actual Plane May Have Faced the Greater Risk
The use of the legacy presidential aircraft as part of the deception raised questions about the staff and journalists traveling aboard it, but Trump later disputed the suggestion that they had necessarily faced the greater danger. “I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump said, according to Reuters.
Trump said he believed the C-32A carrying him would have been the aircraft an attacker was more likely to target. The smaller plane reached RAF Mildenhall in Britain at about 10:20 p.m. local time, according to videos reviewed by the Washington Post. The legacy 747 carrying journalists and staff arrived several minutes later.
Exactly how Trump moved from the C-32A back onto the larger presidential aircraft after landing has not been publicly established. He appeared before television cameras descending from the legacy 747 at about 10:56 p.m., greeted U.S. service members and then walked to the newly refurbished Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar.
Trump boarded the Qatari-donated aircraft at about 11:01 p.m. for the flight back to Washington. The Post reported that he spoke with traveling journalists aboard that flight about threats from Iran without revealing the secret aircraft switch that had taken place only hours earlier.