Trump Secretly Moved in Food Container
The U.S. President Donald Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey aboard a military aircraft due to an assassination threat linked to Iran, while passengers on the presidential plane remained unaware.
The U.S. President Donald Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey aboard a military aircraft due to an assassination threat linked to Iran, while passengers on the presidential plane remained unaware.
U.S. President Donald Trump secretly changed aircraft during the NATO summit in Turkey in July this year, although the public was told he was traveling on the presidential plane Air Force One. The operation was carried out due to an assassination threat linked to Iran, with details revealed by American media, including The Washington Post and The New York Times.
On July 8, 2026, Trump was filmed boarding Air Force One at Ankara airport and waving as a sign of departure. However, according to sources close to U.S. officials, the president was then transferred to a smaller military aircraft, in a container intended for transporting food for the flight.
He flew to Britain on that aircraft, while Air Force One continued to its originally announced destination. The reason for the secret operation was the possibility of a missile attack on the aircraft Trump was supposed to fly on.
After Trump left Air Force One, journalists, officials, and White House staff boarded the aircraft. They were not told that the president was no longer on board, nor that there was a security threat.
Some journalists reported that they were instructed to keep the window shades closed during the flight. When they later asked Trump for the reason, he replied: "If I go, you go. Right?"
Trump confirmed to Reuters that he changed aircraft at the request of the Secret Service and the U.S. military. Regarding the threat, he said: "I think the threat was there. I didn't really ask about it. I get a lot of threats."
A similar operation was carried out in 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton changed aircraft during a flight to Pakistan due to a terrorist threat. The key difference was that journalists were informed in advance that the president would not be on the same aircraft.
Clinton's then-press secretary commented to The New York Times on Trump's operation, calling the journalists and other passengers who were unaware of the threat "human shields."
The entire case has sparked debates about whether passengers on Air Force One were exposed to danger due to the threat aimed at the president. Trump, however, claimed that the aircraft he flew on was in greater danger than the one carrying the other passengers.
The operation was carried out the night after Trump launched a new series of strikes on Iran, which further heightened tensions between the two countries.
