USA · 11 August, 2026 · 3 min read
Trump Says Secret Service Ordered Plane Swap in Ankara After Iranian Assassination Threat
Secret Service and military ordered him to switch planes after NATO summit in Turkey. He departed Turkey on a different plane, moved via catering truck, leaving Air Force One.
Implied motive emphasis: image/political memes vs security procedure.
10 of 12 outlets skipped it: window shades were reportedly kept closed on the decoy flight.
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Reuters
“After a day of social media memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck”Read the original ↗
USA Today
“The ruse was a ploy designed to protect the president amid a possible threat”Read the original ↗
Reuters emphasises meme optics; USA Today stresses protective intent
Decoy swap after NATO
After a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, President Donald Trump secretly switched planes last month, leaving Air Force One via a catering truck and boarding another aircraft, a maneuver prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, according to U.S. media.
“Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck”
Trump told reporters on Tuesday, "I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk," adding, "I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for."
The Washington Post first reported the change on Monday, after the White House did not disclose it, and the ruse involved transferring Trump from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck.
NBC News previously confirmed that Trump surreptitiously moved to an unmarked jet using a catering truck on July 8 after having boarded Air Force One in front of cameras, and he flew on the jet from Ankara to a base in the United Kingdom while reporters and White House staff believed he was on board Air Force One.
Secret Service guidance
Trump said the switch was carried out at the direction of the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. military, telling reporters, "They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane."
At Joint Base Andrews as he returned from Ohio, Trump also said, "It's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do," framing the decision as compliance with security guidance.
ABC News reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were on the "decoy" Air Force One, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on the other plane flying with the president.
CNN’s Aaron Blake said the plan left journalists and White House staff on board the decoy plane "without their knowledge or awareness," and quoted former Secret Service agent Robert McDonald warning that "Questions will now be raised about the security measures" for the other 747s.
Risk, briefings, and fallout
The episode has triggered demands for additional security information, with Congressional Democrats demanding a briefing from officials on the specifics of Trump’s flight last month and any security threats that surrounded it, NBC News reported.
“Congressional Democrats are demanding a briefing from officials on the specifics of Trump’s flight last month”
Trump said he was not surprised there was a threat, telling reporters, "I guess there was a threat out there," and he added, "I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats."
USA Today reported that Trump said he was acting on the advice of Secret Service when he was covertly carried off Air Force One in a catering container and flown out of Turkey on another military jet, and it quoted him explaining, "I have a lot of threats that you don't know about."U
The BBC reported that officials told its US partner CBS News that the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane, and it said the New York Times reported US intelligence had information of a person near the NATO summit who had been seen with a shoulder-fired missile.