Donald Trump secretly swapped planes as he left a Nato summit in Turkey last month, as part of an elaborate ruse in response to a possible Iranian threat, US media report.
The US president boarded Air Force One in view of television cameras before being transported to a military aircraft with the help of a catering truck, according to the Washington Post. Journalists and some White House staff on board did not know he had been smuggled out.
Officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane. The White House has not confirmed the secret switch.
Trump had earlier said he was Iran’s “number one target” during the summit in Ankara.
The clandestine manoeuvre came a day after the US renewed military strikes on Iran following a breakdown of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war.
Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar, but announced that he would leave on the old Air Force One “for old time’s sake”.
On 8 July, footage showed him boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport. But according to the Washington Post, he was then secretly taken to a smaller C-32A military aircraft – a modified Boeing 757 often used by the vice-president – via a catering truck that had been elevated to plane level on the opposite side to where he had boarded.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs in an effort to make the flight appear normal, according to the newspaper.
Journalists and some White House staff boarded Air Force One and were reportedly told to close their window shades. They were unaware the president was no longer on board.
A pool producer who was on the plane said one unusual moment on the flight was the request that members of the press keep the shades down. A photographer briefly opened one and was quickly told to close it and that it was a request from the Secret Service, which guards the president.
The producer, in a report from the White House Correspondents Association provided on Tuesday, also noted there appeared to have been two catering trucks at both the front and back of the plane when the press arrived, and their van had been too far back in the motorcade at the airport be able to take a photo of the president boarding.
Technically “Air Force One” is the call sign for any aircraft carrying the US president. But on this occasion, the C-32A used the call sign “Reach 18”, while the aircraft carrying the journalists continued to use “AF1” in order to keep up the ruse.
Trump then flew to the UK en route to the US, where he reboarded the old Air Force One and was seen descending from the aircraft after it landed at RAF Mildenhall. It is unclear how he moved from the C-32A back to the legacy jet.
The president then transferred to the new Qatari-donated Air Force One to travel back to Washington.
During that flight, Trump spoke to reporters on board where he noted the threats posed by Iran but did not mention the earlier plane swap.
Asked why reporters had been told to lower the window shades on the plane from Turkey, Trump said: “Because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with.”
He said he had a “threat all the time” on his life, and that he is “number one” on Iran’s “list”.
“But if I go, you go, right?”, he said, adding: “Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”
Jose Zamora, regional director for the Americas for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement that the Trump administration “has a responsibility to ensure that journalists covering the president are not unnecessarily exposed to danger”.
“Reporters should be informed of credible security threats so they can make informed decisions about their safety,” he added.
White House communications director Steven Cheung did not directly confirm or deny the reports, but said the new Air Force One was a “state-of-the-art aircraft” fitted with security measures to protect the president and his staff.
US intelligence had previously warned of a specific threat of an attack on Trump or his aircraft, according to earlier reporting by CBS News.
The New York Times previously reported on security concerns regarding the Qatari-gifted jet, including that the Secret Service had urged Trump to switch planes on his return from the Nato summit.
Several of the publication’s journalists were summoned to testify under oath in response. The Justice Department subsequently told the BBC that it was investigating illegal leaks.
The US has spent months retrofitting the $400m Boeing 747-8 to prepare it for the president. Older Air Force One planes have laser technology to blind incoming missiles, sources have told CBS News. It is unclear what systems the Qatari jet has.
“The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the president’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CBS News. – Agency report.
