Trending 
US President Donald Trump secretly departed Türkiye last month aboard a smaller plane following an assassination threat from Iran, according to a Washington Post report published Monday.
Trump initially boarded the standard Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8 before transferring via a catering container to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain.
The operation successfully misled media and several officials into believing the president remained on the primary airliner.
Security concerns regarding Iranian proxy forces had already prompted the administration to ground the luxury Boeing 747-8—gifted by Qatar’s royal family—which Trump had flown into Ankara for the NATO summit.
Critics previously raised questions about the Qatari jet’s defence capabilities, noting it lacked the advanced anti-missile systems fitted on older presidential aircraft.
Journalists travelling on the decoy flight out of Türkiye were instructed to pull down their window blinds, a security measure typically restricted to active war zones.
Although Trump claimed he swapped planes to allow US troops in Britain to tour the new Qatari aircraft, video evidence shows the catering truck moving between the two planes before takeoff.
After both aircraft landed in the United Kingdom, Trump emerged from the larger jet, though details regarding his secondary transfer remain unclear.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended the fleet’s protocols, stating that officials deploy every available security tool to counter threats against the president.
