Trump says he switched planes after Nato summit because of possible threat
President Donald Trump has confirmed he secretly swapped planes while leaving a Nato summit in Ankara last month due to a possible threat, after reports emerged that he was covertly moved from Air Force One to a smaller military jet using a catering truck. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Secret Service and military personnel had directed the switch, adding that the aircraft he ultimately boarded was actually at "greater risk". The episode has raised questions about whether journalists and staff left aboard the decoy plane were knowingly put in danger.
Officials told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane had been detected, a day after the US had renewed military strikes on Iran amid collapsed negotiations. Footage on 8 July showed Trump boarding the presidential Boeing 747-8 at Ankara airport, but he reportedly slipped out via an elevated catering truck to a smaller C-32A military aircraft, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded separately to maintain appearances. Passengers on Air Force One, told to close their window shades, were unaware the president was no longer aboard; Trump had previously said he believed he was Iran's "number one target" during the summit.
- Trump confirms secret plane swap after Nato summit over Iranian threat
- Catering truck used to move him to a smaller military jet
- Journalists on decoy Air Force One flight were unaware of the switch
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Iran and the United States have been locked in a bitter standoff for months, and tensions escalated sharply after Washington carried out military strikes on Iranian targets in June and July, following the breakdown of nuclear negotiations. Against this backdrop, President Trump attended a Nato summit in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in early July. Nato is the military alliance of the US, the UK and other Western nations, and such summits typically involve high security given the seniority of attendees.
The story concerns what happened as Trump left that summit. Air Force One is the well-known presidential aircraft, while a C-32A is a smaller military jet also used for official travel. Questions have arisen about how the switch between the two was carried out, who ordered it, and what was or wasn't disclosed to the journalists and staff who remained on the original plane, unaware the president was no longer aboard.
This matters because it touches on presidential security protocols, the honesty of official communications with the press pool travelling with the president, and the wider risks posed by the ongoing tension with Iran. The episode has prompted scrutiny over whether people left on the decoy aircraft were exposed to danger without their knowledge.