How Trump pulled off Air Force One switch with catering truck, C-32A
Reports indicate that President Donald Trump utilized a secret deception involving a catering truck and multiple aircraft to safely depart Turkey following a NATO summit. The maneuver was designed to protect the president from a potential assassination plot linked to rising tensions with Iran.
Why it matters
This highlights the extreme security measures taken to protect high-level officials during periods of heightened international conflict.
Hear this story Note: This information is based extensively on reporting from The Washington Post, which broke the story, and The New York Times.
President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey on July 8 using a carefully staged deception that hid him in an airline catering container and moved him from Air Force One to another U.S. military aircraft, according to news reports.
The deception was used to thwart an Iranian assassination plot after a NATO summit in Turkey, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported. It involved multiple U.S. planes at the Ankara Esenboğa Airport.
Trump boarded Air Force One, a Boeing 747-200B, and reportedly exited the aircraft by a different door on the opposite side of the plane, away from public view. He was taken to a nearby jet, an Air Force C-32A, the military version of a Boeing 757.
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