President Donald Trump secretly exited Air Force One and boarded a different military aircraft before beginning his journey back from a NATO summit in Turkey in July, according to a Washington Post report.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the switch-up was prompted by a threat on the president’s life from Iran.
The apparent last-minute decision to use the older, robin’s egg blue-and-white Air Force One instead of a jet gifted to Trump by Qatar last year sparked intense speculation about the president’s safety while in Turkey and possible limitations on the Qatari aircraft’s air defense capabilities. The Post is the first outlet to assert that Trump used neither jet and instead boarded a Boeing C-32, a military variant of the 757 that mainly carries the vice president, first lady, and secretary of state.
The president’s security detail allegedly devised a complex ruse to make it appear as though Trump actually was on the older Air Force One. Trump boarded the airplane in full view of news cameras but was secretly shuttled to the C-32 using an airport catering truck. Reporters and even some White House staff were unaware of the switch and were led to believe they were on the same aircraft as the president.
Trump flew on the C-32 to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the U.K., where he visited with U.S. troops. Photographers captured Trump exiting Air Force One at the base, suggesting he reboarded the aircraft at some point after landing to maintain the deception.
The president flew the rest of the way to Washington, D.C., using the new Air Force One.
The Trump administration did not confirm or entirely deny the Post’s story.
“As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” White House communications director Steven Cheung told the Associated Press.
Neither the Secret Service nor the Air Force have commented on the report.
The Qatari jet, now known as the VC-25B Bridge, entered service as the new Air Force One in early July. The aircraft is intended to serve as a stopgap for Boeing’s VC-25B, the next official incarnation of Air Force One, which is set for delivery in 2028, the final full year of Trump’s second term.
Trump has made no secret of his disappointment with Boeing for repeated delays in the VC-25B program. Upon reentering office in 2025, he began lobbying for a new aircraft to replace the 35-year-old VC-25A, which he considers badly outdated. The gift of a Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari government solved this problem for the White House, even while raising ethics and national security concerns on Capitol Hill.
The VC-25A, which has served every president since George H.W. Bush, was on track for retirement, but it unexpectedly appeared in Ankara during the NATO summit July 7-8. Trump said at the time that he would use it on the trip back for “old time’s sake.” The new Air Force One was sent ahead to Mildenhall so the troops there could get a good look at it, he said.
Subsequent reports from the Post and The New York Times suggested that Trump opted not to use the VC-25B Bridge because it may lack some of the defensive capabilities found on the VC-25A. The U.S. was carrying out strikes on Iran at the time of the summit, raising the risk of retaliation from Tehran. Turkey and Iran share a border, and Iran has shown it can strike targets farther away than Ankara with its missiles.
The new report from the Post could suggest that the threat from Iran was especially credible or urgent, requiring another layer of subterfuge to get the president out of Turkey.
Later in July, Trump said the VC-25B Bridge will be taken out of service to be “maxed out.” He did not elaborate on what that would entail. The VC-25A will be used for the president’s international flights in the meantime.