Trump secretly left Türkiye on smaller jet amid Iran threat: Report

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Türkiye last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, the Washington Post reported on Aug. 11.

Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane, the report said.

The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to believe Trump was still on the bigger jet.

The Iranian threat had previously been reported by U.S. media as the reason that Trump did not fly out of Türkiye aboard the new Boeing 747-8, gifted to the United States by Qatar, which he had used to fly into the country.

Trump, who was in Ankara for a NATO summit, said at the time he would be taking the older Boeing 747 so that members of the U.S. military at an airbase in Britain could tour the new plane.

However, several U.S. media outlets reported that a threat from Iranian proxy forces had prompted the switch.

Journalists on the old plane out of Ankara were also told to keep their window blinds down, a step normally reserved for war zones, furthering suspicions of security concerns.

The plane swap prompted renewed scrutiny of the Qatar-gifted jet, which the Times reported did not have the same security features as the older jet, including anti-missile defenses.

Video in the Washington Post’s report showed a catering truck lowering from the older Air Force One jet, minutes after Trump walked up stairs into the plane.

The catering vehicle can then be seen transiting in the distance to the smaller C-32A aircraft.