#decoy plane

American intelligence agencies had flagged a plot by Iranian proxy forces to target the president’s plane amid tensions between Washington and Tehran over the war in the Middle East. To trick onlookers and potential attackers on July 8, Mr Trump publicly climbed the staircase of the blue-and-white Boeing 747 in full view of television cameras, waving to the crowd before stepping inside.

Minutes later, on the far side of the plane, Mr Trump and a handful of senior aides stepped into an elevated food lorry used to load in-flight meals on to the aircraft.

The container was lowered and driven across the tarmac to a waiting US Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 flying under the nondescript military call sign “Reach 18” with its primary tracking transponders switched off. The swap was executed on the direct advice of the US Secret Service. Details of intelligence warnings regarding the threat were hidden from senior members of Congress and most White House staff.

Threat levels against Mr Trump have remained high since the US assassinated Iran’s Gen Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

The security operation also highlighted anxieties surrounding a $400m (£300m) Boeing 747-8 given to the US by Qatar last year.

Mr Trump flew into Ankara on the Qatari jet, but chose not to fly out on it amid growing concerns that its defensive missile counter-measures were inferior to those on older presidential aircraft.

To explain the swap, Mr Trump claimed on social media that he was taking the legacy 747 back “for old time’s sake”. In fact, he left Ankara on neither jet, it has now been revealed.

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, defended the operation, stating: “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 – including distraction and misdirection – to address those threats.”

The covert C-32A flight landed at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk at 10.20pm. Mr Trump was covertly transferred back on board the main presidential 747 shortly before emerging on the tarmac to greet British base staff. Meanwhile, journalists and unsuspecting staff boarded the decoy Air Force One. Before the plane departed, White House officials ordered reporters to close their window blinds.

David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, said it was “stunning to think that all those on the [regular] plane were sort of a decoy, and were not told that the president wasn’t on board, and that the deception was continued even after he was safely returned to Washington”. “That’s hard for me to understand,” he added.

Mid-flight, the decoy plane switched its transponder to broadcast the “AF1” call sign to draw attention away from the US president’s actual location.

When reporters asked after the flight why the shades had to be pulled down, Mr Trump remarked: “Because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with.” He added that he remained “number one” on Iran’s target list.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/08/11/trump-secret-flight-turkey-iran-plot-air-force-one/

Trump’s Air Force One 'Decoy' Escape Ignites Online Fury

President Donald Trump’s reported secret escape from Air Force One amid fears of an Iranian assassination attempt sparked a furious online backlash Monday, with critics accusing the White House of leaving journalists and staff aboard what was described as a “decoy” aircraft.

The uproar followed a Washington Post report detailing an extraordinary security operation as Trump left Turkey on July 8, a day after the U.S. renewed military strikes on Iran.

Trump initially boarded the familiar presidential Boeing 747 in view of cameras before he and several aides reportedly slipped out another door and into an airport catering truck, which transported them to an Air Force C-32A.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Trump aboard the smaller aircraft for the flight to Britain.

Reporters and some White House staff remained aboard the original plane, reportedly unaware the president wasn’t on board.

The story drew quick and widespread fury online, where liberal pundits seized on the characterization of the original plane as a “decoy” and questioned the decision to keep journalists and staff aboard during what officials considered a credible threat:

A truly WILD story. This appears to be the order of operations: 1. Trump flies to Turkey on the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One for the NATO summit. 2. An Iranian assassination threat triggers a secret “deception operation.” Security officials devise a plan to conceal which aircraft Trump is actually traveling on. 3. The Qatari-gifted Air Force One leaves Turkey first, without Trump. 4. Trump publicly boards the legacy Air Force One in Ankara, walking up the stairs and waving for cameras, creating the appearance that this is his plane home. 5. Trump secretly exits Air Force One through the other side of the aircraft and gets into an airport catering truck raised to the plane’s door. 6. The catering truck drives Trump to a smaller Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 parked nearby. 7.. Trump secretly boards the C-32A. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also boards separately. 8. Reporters and some White House staff board the legacy Air Force One, apparently unaware Trump is no longer aboard. They are instructed to close their window shades. (Remember all that reporting from the time?) 9. The legacy Air Force One takes off as a decoy and eventually uses the “AF1” call sign despite Trump not being aboard. 10. Trump’s actual C-32A flies secretly to Britain under the nondescript call sign “Reach 18,” with its normal flight-tracking systems reportedly switched off. 11. Trump arrives at RAF Mildenhall in Britain on the C-32A, shortly before the decoy Air Force One arrives. 12. Trump somehow transfers back onto the legacy Air Force One after landing. The Post says exactly how this transfer occurred remains unclear. 13. Trump then emerges from the legacy Air Force One in front of cameras, making it appear as though that was the aircraft he had flown from Turkey. 14. Trump boards the Qatari-gifted Air Force One in Britain and finally flies back to Washington with the press and staff. P.S. Remember when Trump told the reporters on the plane, "I go, you go," in regard to the plane being targeted? It actually seems Trump left and endangered the lives of everyone on board.

Scoop: Trump flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as the president, The Post has learned. w/ @DanLamothe @abtran & @joyceslee washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

No president in history would use others as a shield without their knowledge of the danger. This is disgraceful cowardice.

Ned Price, a former State Department spokesperson under former President Joe Biden, warned that while a “safeguard” was necessary at times, what was “unique to this White House” was the decision to “lie” to reporters at the time and to the American people in the weeks that followed:

NBC News senior justice reporter Ryan Reilly, meanwhile, joked that the catering-cart maneuver appeared to have been borrowed from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, referencing speculation surrounding the pop star’s unconventional methods of moving around unnoticed at public events:

MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski invoked Biden and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor said the move made Trump look like a “scared little b*tch”:

Meanwhile, MAGA pundits, including podcaster Katie Miller, wife of top Trump aide Stephen Miller, slammed the journalist behind the reporting while others fumed that the story had been leaked in the first place:

Trump had publicly acknowledged the threat after reaching Britain, telling reporters that he was “number one” on Iran’s “list,” but never mentioned the ruse.

Asked why journalists had been ordered to close their window shades before departing Turkey, Trump offered a characteristically dark joke. “But if I go, you go. Right?” Trump said. “Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”

Scoop: Trump flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as the president, The Post has learned. w/ @DanLamothe @abtran & @joyceslee John Hudson

My favorite part: This Turkish catering truck nonchalantly moving from Air Force One to the other plane @JoJoFromJerz

That’s an awful lot of clandestine maneuvering to evade a country with zero military capability because we’d “destroyed it” on “day one.” 🧐