United States President Donald Trump secretly switched planes during his departure from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 8, 2026, due to a credible assassination threat linked to Iran, according to US media reports cited by Al Jazeera.

While Trump publicly announced he would leave on an older version of Air Force One, he was actually hidden inside a catering container and transferred to a smaller military aircraft, a C-32A, which then flew him to the United Kingdom. The larger Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8 gifted to the US by Qatar and used to fly into Turkiye, served as a decoy.

Journalists traveling with Trump on the older Air Force One were reportedly advised to keep their window shades closed, fueling suspicions of heightened security concerns. Trump had stated he would take the older Boeing 747 “for old time’s sake.”

A US official described the operation as a “deception operation” triggered by the credible Iran-related threat. Cheung, representing Air Force One, stated, “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. 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.”

This secretive maneuver underscores ongoing security challenges faced by US leadership amid tensions with Iran.

Sources