President Donald Trump was covertly transferred to a smaller aircraft during a departure from Turkey last month, a move orchestrated by military and Secret Service officials following intelligence of a specific shoulder-fired missile threat. The security operation, which took place on the final day of a NATO summit, involved using a catering truck to move the president from his primary aircraft to a smaller C-32A jet while several Cabinet members remained on the original Boeing 747.
The threat was deemed credible enough that officials feared for the president’s safety on both the legacy Air Force One and the Qatar-donated jet he had used to arrive in the country. Sources indicated that the intelligence was particularly concerning because it contained specific details regarding Trump’s logistical arrangements in Ankara. During his stay, the president had resided at a downtown luxury hotel and traveled frequently between the venue and his accommodations.
The clandestine plan involved a catering truck pulling up to the side of the larger aircraft before the president’s motorcade arrived. Once Trump boarded, the truck’s container was lowered, and it transported him to the waiting C-32A. The larger plane, which still carried several high-ranking officials and staff, departed at approximately 8:44 p.m. local time, passing the smaller jet as it taxied for takeoff. Most passengers on the primary flight were reportedly unaware that the president was not on board.
Key aides accompanying Trump on the smaller aircraft included executive assistant Natalie Harp, deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino, and Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also joined the president on the smaller plane. Conversely, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller remained on the larger jet alongside other staff and media members.
Upon landing at a military airbase in Britain, video footage confirmed that Hegseth, Nauta, and Harp were with Trump as he transitioned to a Qatari plane for the final leg of his journey to Washington. When asked about the incident, Trump confirmed the general nature of the operation but remained dismissive of the danger. “I don’t worry about anything, to be honest,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “Whatever it is, you know my attitude? Whatever. I just follow what they’d like to do. So I go by Secret Service. And the military.”
The administration has long monitored potential Iranian retaliation for the 2020 drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani. Tensions were further heightened in the days preceding the summit following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran. During the funeral proceedings, public calls for retribution against Trump were widespread, and Iranian parliament member Hamid Rasaei publicly suggested that the president should be targeted while in Turkey.
While reports emerged that Israel had shared intelligence regarding a new Iranian assassination plot, some officials expressed skepticism, suggesting the information might be part of a broader effort to influence US policy toward Iran. Despite the high-stakes security measures taken to ensure his safe departure, Trump maintained that he was not provided with extensive details regarding the specific nature of the threat, choosing instead to defer entirely to the judgment of his security detail. The report also notes that now without the president on board, took off at roughly 8:44 p.m, the larger plane. The report also notes that both Rubio and Bessent remained behind on the blue and white Boeing 747 along with other White House staffers, military personnel and members of the press, according to US officials, when it came time to switch planes. The report also notes that the US government has long warned that Iran may try to kill Trump in retaliation for the 2020 drone strike he ordered which killed a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani. The report also notes that on Tuesday, Trump confirmed the broad contours of the scheme but downplayed the nature of the ruse. The report also notes that raising the issue repeatedly with reporters, trump had appeared preoccupied with Iranian threats on his life over the course of his final day at the NATO summit. The report also notes that hamid Rasaei, a conservative cleric and member of Iran’s parliament, wrote when Trump was in Turkey that the US president should be targeted while in the region: “My suggestion is this: Now that the bastard Trump is within our reach and has come to Turkey for the NATO summit, we should officially and without hesitation target the location where Trump and several other criminals are staying in Turkey with a missile.”.