An elaborate deception operation was set up last month in Turkey to ensure Donald Trump’s safe departure from the country, after U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Iran posed a credible threat to the U.S. president.

According to The New York Times, Trump boarded the older presidential Air Force One in front of the cameras, giving the impression that he would be traveling on it for the first leg of his return trip from the NATO summit. In reality, however, he secretly left the aircraft inside a catering container and was transferred to a third plane, on which he flew secretly to Britain.

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AlphaNewsThe plan, which was drawn up in a matter of hours, was disclosed only to a very limited circle of top U.S. government officials. The journalists traveling with the president, as well as several White House officials, had no idea what was going on and were essentially used as a “smokescreen” for the operation.

Quite a story: After an Iranian assassination threat, Trump was secretly switched to a different plane while leaving the NATO summit in Ankara.

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He’d arrived in Türkiye on the new Qatar-gifted 747-8 (its first international presidential trip).

For departure, he publicly boarded…

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 11, 2026

The “show” in front of the cameras

According to the report, Trump was scheduled to depart from Türkiye on July 8, following the conclusion of the NATO summit.

It had already been announced that for the first leg of his return trip, he would not be using the newer Boeing 747-8 donated to him by Qatar, but rather one of the older Air Force One aircraft. He had attributed the change at the time to… nostalgia, telling reporters that he wanted to fly on the older aircraft “to reminisce about the old days.”

In front of the cameras, the U.S. president boarded the older Air Force One in the usual manner from the left side of the aircraft. The reporters accompanying him also boarded, and everything indicated that Trump would be traveling with them—but that ultimately did not happen.

On the other side of the aircraft, a catering container had been hoisted into place. According to a U.S. official cited by The New York Times, Trump was secretly taken away through it and escorted to a third aircraft.

How Trump “Disappeared” from the Radar

According to the Washington Post, the aircraft that secretly transported Trump to Britain was a C-32A, the military version of the Boeing 757. The aircraft flew under the call sign “Reach 18” or “RCH18,” instead of “Air Force One,” and the systems that allow for easy tracking of its flight path during the flight had been deactivated.

At the same time, the older Boeing 747 that had departed from Turkey with journalists and White House officials—but without Trump—appeared on radar under the call sign “AF1” during the flight. Thus, the aircraft gave the impression that it was carrying the U.S. president, even as he was traveling to Britain aboard the C-32A.

Traveling with Trump on the C-32A was Defense Secretary Pete Hegese, who boarded separately via an external staircase, so that the aircraft’s presence at the airport would appear to be a routine government flight.

It should be noted that the operation took place amid a tense atmosphere, as just one night earlier, U.S. forces had launched new strikes against Iran on Trump’s orders, following the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war.

The journalists left in the dark

The journalists on board the older Air Force One were never informed that Trump was not traveling with them. The same was true for some White House staff members. Thus, without knowing it, they became part of the deception operation. It is telling that, upon takeoff from Turkey, journalists were instructed to keep the window shades closed in the press cabin.

The older Air Force One landed at 10:16 p.m. at Mildenhall Air Base in England. Forty minutes later, Trump was seen stepping off the plane, just as he would on a perfectly ordinary presidential trip. Except that, this time, he had arrived in Britain on a different plane.

After the military aircraft landed, Trump was transported by road to the older Air Force One, boarded it through a different entrance, and then exited through the upper left door in front of reporters, giving the impression that he had just completed his flight from Turkey. He then walked down the jet bridge to the aircraft donated to him by Qatar and returned to Washington on it, accompanied by the reporters.

“If I leave, you leave too”

Behind this extremely complex operation, as mentioned earlier, was the U.S. intelligence assessment that there was a credible Iranian threat against Trump and the aircraft on which he would be traveling. According to NYT sources, the threat did not pertain exclusively to the new aircraft donated by Qatar. The intelligence indicated that the target was Trump himself, regardless of which plane he would be using.

The U.S. president was informed of the threat while he was still in Turkey, and within a few hours, his evacuation was organized. According to the report, the small circle of high-ranking officials involved in the planning included Defense Secretary Pete Hegese and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane.

It is worth noting that, during the return flight from Britain to the U.S., reporters asked Trump why the older Air Force One had been used for the trip to England. Among other things, the U.S. president claimed that he wanted the soldiers stationed at the British base to see the new aircraft.

When asked why reporters had been instructed to keep the sunshades closed during the flight from Turkey, he said he was not aware of any specific threat, but claimed that he is constantly in Iran’s crosshairs. “I’m number one on their list, ahead of you,” he told reporters, adding, “But if I go, you go too. Right?”

The Secret Service’s History of Decoy Operations

The use of decoy motorcades or flights is not an unfamiliar practice for the Secret Service, especially when the president is in an area where a serious threat is assessed to exist. However, the operation for Donald Trump’s secret departure from Turkey stands out for the scale of the deception employed.

As reported by the Washington Post, one of the most notable such operations took place in March 2000, during Bill Clinton’s visit to Pakistan. Due to serious security concerns, the then-U.S. president traveled to Islamabad in a white, unmarked aircraft, while another plane bearing the official presidential markings was used as a “decoy” and landed first.

The American newspaper notes that on other occasions over the past 30 years, Air Force One has been used as a “decoy,” either due to specific threats or when the president was about to travel to a high-risk area. The distinctive presidential aircraft is equipped with highly advanced security systems; however, it is also highly recognizable, which means that, in certain cases, transporting the president on a different aircraft is the safest option.

The New York Times, for its part, points out that following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush initially traveled to a military base and then returned to Washington, accompanied by a small group of journalists. However, even on presidential trips to war zones, it is customary to have a press corps with some general knowledge of the president’s whereabouts.

Trump himself had employed similar tactics during his 2024 election campaign, when U.S. intelligence agencies had information that Iran was still seeking to assassinate him. In some cases, Trump was transported on a secret aircraft without the media being notified, while his aides traveled on his private jet.

Tehran’s Threats Against Trump

Trump and several of his aides have been facing threats from Iran for years, especially following the order he issued during his first presidential term to assassinate Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.

As early as the 2024 election campaign, his aides had been briefed on intelligence indicating that Tehran was still seeking to harm Trump. This, as mentioned above, had led even then to the use of “decoy” aircraft by the presidential candidate’s security team.

The Biden administration had stepped up his security in the summer of 2024 following new intelligence about plans to assassinate him. This was followed by two separate (and unrelated to Iran) attempts on his life, the first in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the second in September of that same year.

Threats against Trump have included, among other things, a plot to assassinate him for a fee by an Iranian agent, as well as cyberattacks against the email and social media accounts of members of his campaign staff.

Source: Proto Thema