In a surprising strategy to evade potential Iranian assassination plots, President Donald Trump was discreetly slipped off Air Force One inside a catering cart last month.
Returning from a NATO summit in Turkey, the President was transferred from the primary jet to a separate military aircraft, a scheme detailed by The New York Times.
For his journey to Turkey, Trump was aboard a refurbished 747-8, a generous gift from Qatari officials, enhanced by the administration with significant security upgrades.
However, upon the summit’s conclusion, Trump unexpectedly declared his intention to fly on an older aircraft model, citing nostalgia as his reason.
While the cameras captured the scene at Ankara’s airport, Trump was observed boarding this older aircraft, which was headed to a U.S. military base in the United Kingdom.
However, officials familiar with the reported ruse told the Times that Trump covertly entered a food cart that had been fitted to the belly of the plane amid threats from Iranian officials.
He was then transported to a smaller Air Force C-32A plane via an airport catering truck that is typically used to load meals and other supplies to Air Force One, according to the Washington Post.
The plot reportedly fooled journalists and even some White House staffers who were aboard the decoy Air Force One flight.
President Donald Trump was reportedly smuggled off Air Force One in a catering cart in a ruse designed to foil threats from Iran
The catering truck was visibly parked on the opposite side of Air Force One after Trump boarded the plane on July 8
The reported subterfuge came as President Trump was leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last month
In video from the tarmac obtained by the Post, Trump could be seen waving to the cameras as he heads into the older-model plane, before a truck is seen maneuvering towards the steps of the C-32A.
The video shows a man in a suit entering the catering truck’s cab before a container is loaded into the bed of the vehicle, which then pulls away from Air Force One.
The container had notably been lifted to the level of the plane for several minutes.
When the container was lowered, a person in a suit stepped out of the truck’s cab, which remained at ground level and ascended the stairs leading up to the nearby C-32A.
Moments later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was seen boarding the C-32A separately using external stairs as part of an apparent attempt to make the flight appear typical.
Journalists who boarded the old Air Force One plane they believed the president aboard were directed to close their window shades.
The plane carrying the journalists then took on the Air Traffic Control sign ‘Air Force One’ mid-flight, even though the designation is technically meant for any plane on which the president is onboard.
Meanwhile, the C-32A flight Trump and Hegseth were on used the call sign ‘Reach 18’ or ‘RCH18,’ according to the Washington Post. Such ‘Reach’ signs are typically used for personnel transport flights and those that haul military equipment.
Trump was seen boarding an older-model Air Force One plane that was set to transport him to a United States military base in the UK as cameras rolled at an airport in Ankara
Instead he was reportedly smuggled off the plane using a container connected to a catering truck
After the two planes then landed in the UK, Trump was apparently smuggled from the C-32A to the legacy Air Force One jet and was seen descending external stairs.
From there, Trump embarked on the Qatari-donated plane to travel back to Washington with the White House press pool.
Onboard that aircraft, the president spoke to journalists for about 15 minutes highlighting the threat that Iran poses.
When asked why reporters were ordered to lower their window shades on the plane in Turkey, Trump said it was ‘because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with.’
He then added that he has a ‘threat all the time’ on his life and that he is ‘number one’ on Iran’s ‘list.’
Tehran has been vocal in its threats and last week a massive, custom-made banner featuring caricature of Trump centered under a large, blood-red painted ‘bullseye’ scope was seen dominating Tajrish Square in the capital, according to photos exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail.
Below the image of the targeted President, in large crimson English capital letters, is the chilling phrase: ‘There will be blood.’
Iranian media has also threatened to go after First Lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump, with a recent AI-generated video highlighting the locations the First Lady likes to shop and how would-be assassins could target her.
Trump flew to Turkey on a Qatari-donated Air Force one jet before switching back to his older model for the journey home
The report on Trump’s escape comes weeks after White House Communications Director Steven Cheung first suggested administration officials engaged in subterfuge as Trump was departing the summit.
‘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 – including distraction and misdirection – to address those threats,’ Cheung previously told The Times.
The statement suggests administration officials viewed the Iranian threat as credible, taking extreme precautions to ensure the president’s safety amid renewed military strikes on Iran.
But the threats were not directed at the Qatari-donated jet itself, Cheung noted as he denied that the plane posed a security risk.
‘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,’ he said in a statement to the Washington Post.
The White House also released a statement insisting that the Qatari-donated aircraft is ‘secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet requirements of the presidential mission.’
‘Those requirements were carefully created to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed,’ the Air Force said in the statement to the Washington Post.
‘No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trads on some of the less-commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years,’ it added.
President Donald Trump is seen outside the plane donated to his administration by Qatari officials in July
However Trump has admitted that the plane needs security improvements, saying the plane has been temporarily taken out of commission to be ‘maxed out’ and that it could get enhanced defensive capabilities to fall in line with the other fleets used for travel.
The president said the upgrades should take roughly a month – but did not specify which upgrades would be taking place.
His remarks came after The Times reported that new jet is missing the vital defensive countermeasures equipped on older models, leaving it completely without antimissile capabilities.
The Trump administration seemingly retaliated a day after the story originally as FBI agents descended on the Times reporters, delivering them subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury.
‘The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,’ David McCraw, the Times’ top newsroom lawyer said in a statement at the time.
‘Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,’ he continued.
‘This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.’
The Department of Justice has since withdrawn the subpoenas after a federal judge grilled its lawyers on whether they had followed the laws in obtaining them.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House and the Department of Defense for comment.