An Iranian threat to assassinate US President Donald Trump prompted a deception operation last month in which the president was secretly transferred between aircraft in an airport catering truck, The Washington Post reported.
While the White House presented the legacy Air Force One as the aircraft Trump used to depart Turkey, the president actually flew aboard a smaller military plane, without journalists or even some administration officials knowing.
The operation took place on July 8, at the end of Trump's visit to Ankara for a NATO summit and against the backdrop of renewed US strikes on Iran following the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Tehran. According to the report, intelligence officials identified a credible and specific threat to attack the president or his aircraft and decided to launch a "deception operation" to conceal his whereabouts.
Trump boarded the blue-and-white Boeing 747 that had previously served as Air Force One in full view of television cameras and even waved goodbye. Minutes later, however, he and several aides were transferred into a catering truck, whose elevated cargo compartment was positioned against a door on the opposite side of the aircraft. The truck then drove them to a smaller C-32A military aircraft, which was used for the actual flight to Britain.
The legacy Air Force One took off carrying journalists and several White House staff members who believed the president was aboard with them. According to the US official quoted in the report, the aircraft was effectively used as a "decoy." White House staff also instructed journalists to close their window shades as they boarded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the alternate aircraft separately in an effort to make the flight appear routine and flew alongside Trump to Britain. The aircraft used the call sign "Reach 18," rather than "Air Force One," and systems that would have allowed its route to be tracked were switched off.
Meanwhile, despite the president not being aboard, the legacy Boeing 747 began using the "AF1" call sign during the flight. After the aircraft landed at RAF Mildenhall in Britain, Trump was transferred back to the legacy jet and descended from it in view of television cameras, creating the impression that he had traveled aboard it for the entire flight.
The White House continued to state publicly that the president had arrived in Britain aboard the "former Air Force One." It remains unclear how many senior administration officials knew about the operation in real time and how many were informed of its details afterward.
Responding to The Washington Post's investigation, the White House did not directly address the deception operation. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, "There are many enemies of America who have their sights on [the president], and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats."
After arriving in Britain and later returning to Washington, Trump was asked why journalists had been told to close the aircraft's window shades in Turkey.
"Because you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with," he replied. Trump said there was a "threat all the time" against his life and that he was "number one" on Iran's "list."
