Iran assassination threat forced Trump into secret Air Force One decoy operation

An Iranian threat to assassinate President Donald Trump or target his aircraft triggered an extraordinary covert operation last month, with the president secretly switching planes after publicly boarding Air Force One in Turkey, according to The Washington Post.

Trump boarded the familiar blue-and-white presidential jet in full view of television cameras after the NATO summit in Ankara, just one day after he ordered renewed US strikes on Iran. Minutes later, he was reportedly moved out through the opposite side of the aircraft inside a catering truck and transferred to a smaller C-32A military plane.

The original Air Force One then flew to Britain as a decoy, carrying journalists and even White House staff who believed the president was aboard. Trump’s real aircraft reportedly traveled with public tracking disabled under the generic call sign “Reach 18.”

Hours later in Britain, Trump was seen descending from the decoy Air Force One, preserving the illusion that he had been aboard throughout—a remarkable security operation designed to conceal the president’s location from a potential Iranian assassination plot.

Air Force OneAnkaraDonald TrumpIranNATO summitSecret ServiceTurkeyUS-Iran War