Trump secretly switched planes at Nato summit over Iranian missile threat, reports claim

Donald Trump, the US president, was secretly transferred from Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft during his departure from a Nato summit in Turkey last month, as part of an elaborate security operation mounted in response to what US intelligence had assessed as a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the presidential plane, according to American media reports. The clandestine manoeuvre, which involved the use of a catering truck to smuggle the president off the Boeing 747-8 on the side opposite to where he had boarded in full view of television cameras, was said to have been conducted without the knowledge of journalists and even some White House staff who remained on the aircraft. Officials confirmed to the BBC's US partner CBS News that the US had detected a specific and credible threat from Iran, though the White House has not formally acknowledged the secret plane swap, which came a day after Washington renewed military strikes on Iran following the collapse of negotiations aimed at ending the war between the two nations.

Having arrived in Ankara aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 that was donated by Qatar, Trump had publicly announced that he would depart on the older Air Force One "for old time's sake", with footage on 8 July showing him boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport. However, according to the Washington Post, he was then discreetly transferred via an elevated catering truck to a C-32A military aircraft, a modified Boeing 757 frequently used by the vice-president, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the same aircraft separately using external stairs to maintain an appearance of normalcy. Journalists and some White House personnel on board Air Force One were instructed to close their window shades, remaining unaware that the president was no longer with them, and the aircraft subsequently flew to the UK en route to the US, where Trump reboarded the old Air Force One and was seen descending from it after landing at RAF Mildenhall, though the details of his transfer back to the legacy jet from the C-32A remain unclear.

The president then transferred to the new Qatari-donated Air Force One for the final leg of his journey to Washington, and during that flight he spoke to reporters, acknowledging the threats posed by Iran but making no mention of the earlier plane swap. When questioned about why reporters had been told to lower their window shades on the flight from Turkey, Trump replied that it was because they were "probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with," adding that he had a "threat all the time" on his life and was "number one" on Iran's "list," before quipping, "But if I go, you go, right?" and suggesting that perhaps they might want to change professions. White House communications director Steven Cheung, while not directly confirming or denying the reports, stated that the new Air Force One was a "state-of-the-art aircraft" equipped with security measures to protect the president and his staff, while US intelligence had previously warned of a specific threat of an attack on Trump or his aircraft, according to earlier CBS News reporting.

The New York Times had 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, and several of that publication's journalists were subsequently summoned to testify under oath in response, with the Justice Department later telling the BBC that it was investigating illegal leaks. The US has spent months retrofitting the $400m Boeing 747-8 to prepare it for presidential use, and older Air Force One planes are understood to possess laser technology designed to blind incoming missiles, though it remains unclear what defensive systems the Qatari jet currently has. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement to CBS News, asserted that "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."