President Donald Trump was reportedly secretly moved off Air Force One using a catering vehicle as part of an elaborate operation designed to protect him from a potential Iranian assassination threat.
The unusual security maneuver occurred last month as Trump departed Turkey following a NATO summit, according to reports cited by the Daily Mail.
Trump had traveled to Turkey aboard a Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar and modified by the administration for presidential use.
As the summit concluded, however, Trump announced that he would return aboard an older presidential aircraft “for old time’s sake.”
Trump was publicly seen boarding the older plane at an airport in Ankara as cameras recorded his departure.
But the public boarding was reportedly part of a much more complicated security operation.
Behind the scenes, Trump was moved using equipment connected to the aircraft’s catering operation, according to a senior official familiar with the plan cited by The New York Times.
Trump was then transported using an airport catering truck to a smaller Air Force C-32A aircraft, according to The Washington Post.
The president secretly departed aboard the smaller aircraft because officials were responding to what was described as a credible Iranian threat against Trump and Air Force One.
Video of the operation obtained by The Washington Post reportedly showed a man in a suit entering the cab of the catering truck before a container was raised to the level of the presidential aircraft.
The container remained elevated for several minutes before being lowered and driven away.
A person in a suit later exited the truck’s cab and walked up the stairs of the nearby C-32A.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was subsequently seen separately boarding the smaller aircraft using external stairs, reportedly as part of an effort to make the flight appear routine.
Meanwhile, journalists boarded the aircraft they believed would be carrying Trump.
White House staff reportedly instructed members of the press aboard that plane to close their window shades.
That aircraft later used the Air Traffic Control designation “Air Force One” during the flight, despite Trump reportedly traveling aboard the separate C-32A.
The designation Air Force One is normally reserved for an Air Force aircraft carrying the president.
The smaller aircraft carrying Trump and Hegseth instead reportedly flew under the call sign “Reach 18,” or “RCH18.” Reach call signs are generally associated with military transportation flights involving personnel or equipment, per the Daily Mail.
After the aircraft arrived in the United Kingdom, Trump reportedly transferred from the C-32A back to the older presidential aircraft.
He was subsequently seen publicly descending the stairs of that aircraft, further concealing the reported switch that had occurred earlier.
The extraordinary precautions came amid concerns about potential threats from Iran.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung previously acknowledged that the administration uses deception when necessary to protect the president.
“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 said, according to The New York Times.
The reported operation occurred amid renewed US military strikes on Iran and heightened concerns about potential retaliation against Trump.
Officials did not suggest that the Qatari-donated presidential aircraft itself posed a security problem.
Cheung has defended the aircraft’s security capabilities, describing it as a state-of-the-art plane equipped with extensive protections for Trump and his staff.
The reported operation instead appears to have been designed to conceal the president’s actual location and travel plans from anyone potentially attempting to target his aircraft.
The measures resulted in Trump secretly traveling aboard a smaller military aircraft while another presidential plane carrying journalists served as an apparent decoy.
