Trump’s Secret Escape Plan from Turkey: How Air Force One Turned Into a Decoy to Avoid Iranian Threat

A complex diversionary operation was implemented in Turkey last month to ensure President Donald Trump’s safe return, after U.S. intelligence had flagged a concrete threat from Iran.

According to information from The New York Times, Trump was filmed boarding one of the older versions of Air Force One, giving onlookers the impression that he would depart on this plane for the first leg of the journey after the NATO summit.

However, the scenario was completely different behind the scenes. The head of the White House was removed unnoticed from the aircraft via a logistics container and boarded another plane, which secretly transported him to Britain.

The plan was devised in just a few hours and was known exclusively to a very small number of senior American officials. The journalists covering the president, as well as some members of the White House staff, were unaware of the maneuver and were unwittingly used as part of the diversion scheme.

On July 8, after the summit ended, Trump was initially scheduled to leave Turkey. It had been made public that for the first segment of the flight he would not use the new Boeing 747-8, which he had received as a gift from Qatar, but one of the older presidential aircraft.

At that moment, the president justified the choice with nostalgic feelings, telling the media he wanted to fly with the old aircraft to recall times past.

In the presence of cameras, he entered the old plane from the left wing. The correspondents accompanying him also boarded, solidifying the perception that the head of state would travel with them.

As soon as the cameras were turned off, everything changed. From the opposite side of the plane, a supply container approached. According to an American official quoted by The New York Times, Trump emerged hidden inside it and was taken to a third plane.

The Washington Post reported that the aircraft that carried out the secret evacuation to Britain was a C-32A, the military version of the Boeing 757. This plane used the call sign “Reach 18” or “RCH18”, instead of “Air Force One”, while the systems that allow easy flight tracking were deactivated.

Meanwhile, the old Air Force One took off from Turkey with the journalists and a group of officials, but without Trump on board, continuing to appear on radar with the “AF1” designation. This maneuver created the illusion that the president was on this plane, when in reality he was traveling to Britain on the C-32A.

Alongside Trump on the C-32A was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who boarded separately via an external stairway, so that the plane’s presence would appear like a routine government flight.

The journalists placed on the old Air Force One were not informed that the president was not on the same flight. The same applied to some members of the White House staff. After takeoff from Turkey, they were ordered to keep the window shades down in the media cabin.

The old Air Force One landed at 22:16 at Mildenhall military base in England. About forty minutes later, Trump emerged from it descending the stairs, giving the impression that he had just completed the journey from Turkey. The truth was that he had arrived earlier on the other plane.

After the C-32A landed, Trump transferred to the old Air Force One, entered through a side entrance, and then appeared before reporters from the upper left door. Then, he proceeded to the new plane donated by Qatar and returned to Washington together with the press team.

The entire operation was prompted by the assessment of U.S. agencies that Trump faced a credible threat from Iran. According to The New York Times sources, the risk was not focused exclusively on the new Qatari plane. Intelligence suggested that the target was the president himself, regardless of which plane he would choose.

Trump was notified of the threat while still in Turkey, and the evacuation plan was organized in a few hours. The tight circle of officials involved in this planning included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the return from Britain to the United States, journalists asked Trump about the use of the old plane. The president replied that he wanted the American troops stationed at the British base to see the new plane. When asked why journalists were asked to keep the shades down during the flight from Turkey, he said he was unaware of any specific danger, but acknowledged that Iran constantly targeted him.

“I am first on their list, before you,” he told the media, adding: “But if I die, you die too. Right?”

The use of decoy motorcades or flights is not a new tactic for the Secret Service, especially when the president is in high-risk areas. However, the operation to extract Trump from Turkey stands out for its level of sophistication.

According to The Washington Post, a similar case occurred in March 2000 during a visit by President Bill Clinton to Pakistan. For security reasons, Clinton traveled to Islamabad on an all-white unmarked plane, while another aircraft with presidential markings was used as a decoy. Over the past three decades, Air Force One has also served as a decoy in similar situations, especially near danger zones.

Trump and his associates have long faced threats from Iran, especially after the order he gave in his first term to eliminate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. During the 2024 presidential campaign, his circle was informed that Tehran was continuing to look for ways to harm or kill the president.

This information led to the use of “blocker” aircraft by the security team. The Biden administration had increased protective measures for Trump during the summer of 2024, following new reports of assassination plots. Later, two separate unrelated-to-Iran attempts targeted him, one in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the other in September of that year.

The threats against Trump have also included a plot for a paid assassination orchestrated by an Iranian agent, as well as cyberattacks on email accounts and social media of his campaign officials.