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The July 8 operation in Ankara saw Trump board a Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 in view of news cameras before agents moved him via an elevated catering truck to a C-32A military aircraft for departure, The Washington Post reported. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the alternate plane using external stairs to help preserve the deception that the president remained aboard the original jet. Journalists and some White House staff on the decoy aircraft had no knowledge of the switch and were instructed to close their window shades during takeoff according to CBS News.
US officials determined that Iranian proxies planned to target the aircraft with a missile, a threat that emerged during the NATO summit and prompted the change, The New York Times reported. The incident followed renewed American strikes on Iran after negotiations to end months of conflict between Washington and Tehran collapsed. Trump had arrived on the newer jet which lacks certain defensive systems present on the older Air Force One a New York Times assessment from earlier in July found.
Trump told reporters he adheres to recommendations from protective agencies without hesitation. “I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane,” he stated. “I just have to do what they say.”
The president added that the plane he boarded instead was placed at greater risk during the switch The Washington Post learned from reviewed materials. Questions remain about the security of individuals who stayed on the decoy flight as detailed in reports by The Guardian citing US media. The entire manoeuvre concealed the president’s location from much of the public and several senior officials for hours after departure according to Al Jazeera coverage of American accounts.
Trump had described himself as Iran’s number one target while at the summit in Ankara the BBC previously reported. Similar protective tactics referred to as a Secret Service shell game have appeared in prior high-risk presidential movements according to historical operational summaries. Pentagon spokesmen referred inquiries on the matter to the White House while the Secret Service directed questions to both the White House and Pentagon The New York Times noted.
