WaPo: Trump Took Secret Flight to Evade Iranian Assassination Plot After NATO Summit
An elaborate “deception operation” undertaken to conceal the president’s departure flight from Ankara.
President Donald Trump secretly switched planes to evade an Iranian assassination attempt while departing from last month’s NATO summit in Turkey, media reports reveal. While the White House announced that the president was on Air Force One, a Boeing 747, he had boarded a smaller US Air Force C-32A to elude Iranian assassins.
“An Iranian assassination threat against President Donald Trump prompted an extraordinary operation last month in which he flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One,” The Washington Post reported, breaking the story. “The maneuver meant that Trump’s actual location was concealed from the American public and many senior U.S. officials for hours.”
The secret flight from Turkey was organized on July 8, a day before Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s burial in northern Iran. The timing of the incident suggests that Israel may have alerted the U.S. to the Iranian threat. A day after President Trump’s secret flight from Ankara, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 9 that “Israel shared new intelligence with the U.S. that it said indicated a fresh Iranian plan to kill President Trump.”
🚨 UPDATE: Footage RELEASED of President Trump reportedly out-maneuvering an Iranian assassination plot in Turkey — hauled off in an airport catering truck from Air Force One, unbeknownst to the press — then he boarded the C-32A
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 11, 2026
Basically EVERYONE thought 47 was on the… pic.twitter.com/QpoDxGCNfq
The Secret Service and White House staffers undertook an elaborate “deception operation” to conceal the president’s departure plan from Ankara, The Washington Post continued:
The administration has claimed that Trump departed Turkey on July 8 on the former Air Force One. Trump announced on social media that he would use the “former Air Force One” rather than the plane that flew him there, a newer Boeing 747-8 gifted to the United States by Qatar. The security of the Qatar-provided aircraft has been called into question, and Trump said last month after the trip that it would undergo additional upgrades.
In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras. He was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, according to the U.S. official and corroborating material reviewed by The Post. That made Air Force One a “decoy” with media and some White House staff aboard, the official said. (…)
A credible threat to Trump involving Iran set the “deception operation” in motion, the U.S. official said. The New York Times and CBS News reported last month that intelligence officials flagged a specific threat of an attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions.
There are decades-old concerns in the U.S. government of Iranian terrorism plots against American officials, including Trump. Those fears have escalated recently as a result of Washington’s role in the killing of Iranian military and political leaders.
The operation, and the Iranian threat, came days after the president began using the newer Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar for use as Air Force One. Trump flew to Turkey on that aircraft after the red, white and blue jet underwent upgrades costing hundreds of millions of dollars. It was fielded by the Air Force in July but lacks some of the defensive countermeasures included in the legacy Air Force One. (…)
To exit that plane without being seen by those uninvolved in the operation, Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated plane-side using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One’s entrance, according to the U.S. official and other corroborating material. (…)
The blue-and-white C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 used to transport U.S. government officials, had been flown to Turkey along with the legacy Air Force One and the former Qatari jet to support the president’s visit, the U.S. official said. Like Air Force One jumbo jets, it is emblazoned with the words “United States of America” and can be used to transport the president or vice president. But it typically does so with the “Air Force One” or “Air Force Two” call sign, not a nondescript moniker.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs, part of an attempt to make the flight appear typical, according to the U.S. official and other materials reviewed by The Post. Hegseth flew with Trump to Britain on the same plane, this person said.
Days ahead of the foiled assassination attempt, Iranian leaders and regime supporters were openly threatening President Trump’s life. During the weeklong funeral of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (from July 3 to 9), regime loyalists called for the murder of the president and his senior administration officials.
In a written statement aired by the regime-run media, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to “avenge” the killing of his father and slain tyrant. Mojtaba, who failed to show up at his father’s funeral, reportedly declared in writing that agents of the Mullah regime spread “across the world” were prepared to carry out a revenge attack “soon.”
During President Trump’s first term in office, Iran’s former Ayatollah Khamenei himself called for his assassination over the killing of top Iranian terror operative Qassem Soleimani in a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. After President Trump resumed his second term, Iran renewed its bid to assassinate him. In 2024, U.S. law enforcement busted a three-member Iranian-backed terror cell plotting to kill him. In 2025, top Iranian clerics issued a fatwa, or a binding Islamic edict, for the murder of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. The fatwa declares President Trump an “enemy of Allah” and offers rewards in the afterlife to his would-be assassins.
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Comments
Rewards in the afterlife…
Great selling point
Cost effective
Democrasts hardest hit by this failed plot.
How dare he? they screech. Right, they would have preferred him to risk being shot out of the sky. Why is this story in the “news” anyway?
am glad the diversion plan was successful–must confess, seeing him alone, unguarded on that jet ladder/stairway gave me pause–where were his body escorts ?–escorts dressed in overalls / aircraft service/catering uniforms ?–lord–why not arm’s length as the job requires ?
still, everything apparently worked–bravo
The President is seldom covered when going up the stairs to AF1 as he is, let’s say, giving a speech. The plane is too big and easy of a target to make protecting against a single gunshot really worth it. You have to secure the entire airport area to make it safe to get on AF1.
Why even reveal such a thing?
Because they are @ssholes.
Because it was probably already widely-known in intelligence circles. Meaning the information has already been leaked to Iran, possibly while Trump was already enroute to the UK but too late for any attack. The possibility also exists that it was leaked on purpose to prevent Iran from shooting down the presidential 747, which would have only made Americans angry (well, half of them) and drawn the ire of at least some of our supposed allies. There would be no “upside” for Iran if it shot at the “king” and missed, so the leak could have been made to help Iran. Who knows? They’re spooks and they think in circles.
Interesting.
I’m usually a T supporter (everyone occasionally makes a mistake) but I have to confess my 1st thought was “what about the poor b@stards left on the plane”?
I hope at the least the flight crew and SS folks were asked to volunteer while the (obviously not informed for security reasons) press passengers weren’t……
Catching leakers and those who betray America. This has been done by several Presidents over the years and the news never outed the information until years later because they respected America. Sometimes you let this stuff out in certain ways to see who will run the story.
Exactly, nearly 100% of the world is barely on a need-to-must-know basis.
Or, would that be 0%?
“The maneuver meant that Trump’s actual location was concealed from the American public and many senior U.S. officials for hours.”
Really? Now let’s talk about Biden disappearing…
Reminds me that if the NYT had been around in 1775…. front page….” Rebels preparing for Redcoats…. “One if by land…two if by sea”.
In early WWII, after a briefing of Congress, a Democrat rep told newspapers that the Japanese were setting their depth charges too shallow. After the IJN read the papers, they reset them and we lost several submarines. It takes two to tango…in this case the leaker and WaPo. Both know what they are doing…and hoping for.
“Andrew Jackson May (1875–1959) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and the powerful Democrat chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee during World War II. He is remembered for wartime political corruption and a severe security leak.”
“In a written statement aired by the regime-run media, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to “avenge” the killing of his father and slain tyrant. Mojtaba, who failed to show up at his father’s funeral, reportedly declared in writing”
We can credit Biden for teaching Iran how it’s done.
Who believes the WaPo found out about this, say two days ago, and published it yesterday? And of course they had to broadcast the details of the switch so Trump can’t use that secret method again.
Everyone who had anything to do with that “exclusive” needs to hang. Literally.
I was on flightradar24 a few days ago when Trump was in Las Vegas. I noticed at the top of the list of “most tracked flights” was a call sign “AF1.” I thought, “No, couldn’t be.” I clicked and it was, and had just took off. I was able to track it all the way across the country. I was quite surprised that it had its transponder on. Any fighter escort did not.
I see military flights (mostly Globemaster IIs) taking off from JBLM, and multi-ship flights will usually take off with their transponders on, then all but one will turn them off after they form up. Many military flights keep their transponders off all the time, or are only broadcasting limited information as to type and flight plan.
It’s standard practice to turn off all of the transponders (really, put them in standby) of aircraft in formation, except lead. We did it all the way back in pilot training. They are also all on the same flight plan – not identical ones, but the same flight plan – as if they were a single aircraft. And they then have to stay within the protected airspace along their route, or file a second flight plan and break off from the original flight.
Transponders don’t broadcast flight plans. Those are filed with the air control for the areas in which they will be flying. None will specify activity, but any of them not simply going from point A to point B will specify restricted airspaces as their location for a specified period of time, and those airspaces will separately be set to active for that time with the general activity going on there specified (refueling, aerobatics, parachuting, etc.).
I hope that some of the details are disinformation planted to catch the leakers. Brief each person with slightly different minor details, and see which version shows up in the press reports.
Next time publicize exact flight plan and use mainstream press as decoy.
Hand out t0shirts to them with a picture of trump on the front and big target symbols on the back
This isn’t the first time the Secret Service has used deception and misdirection to protect the President. During the Clinton administration, they used a decoy plane for a trip to Pakistan. They went even further and used a body double and decoy vehicles as well. It was reported after the fact and there was no outrage from Republicans. The left is so angry about this, they are practically frothing at the mouth.
It’s been going on for years to avoid enemy fire. FDR and Churchill used the names Admiral Q and Mr. P. to get safely to the Casablanca Conference. Bush also did it for the Thanksgiving with the troops.
Donald Trump’s Secret Service code name is Mogul. Even that ticks off libs.
This is why you don’t go to Turkey or Pakistan for that matter in the first place. Half or more of those countries would love to kill a US president no matter who it is. This is why Turkey will never be an ally, should not be in NATO, and should never get F35s.
Didn’t we know this a month ago?
The whole “Oh, he didn’t take the new AF1 because of threats” or something was out there within a day or two after this “deception.”
The cardboard Ayatollah vows revenge. It is doubtful he exists. They would even show him to the Iranian official in the car. Hope he is with his father. Everything coming out of Iran is a lie. Time to bomb Iran to the stone age and let the rest of the world that needs their oil to clean up the mess.
Why even bother calling information “classified”?
So… whos getting their clearance revoked for this?
The Democrat press are very disappointed that they were unable to reveal the precise location of the President to their Iranian pals.
Trump has finally found a positive use for the White House press corps. Quack! Quack!
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