Remember the controversy several weeks back regarding President Trump’s transportation to and from the NATO summit in Turkey? He flew his new $400 million Qatar-gifted Boeing 747-8 to Turkey, but then claimed he flew back on the old Air Force One, with a pretty dubious explanation?
Well, there’s now a fascinating story about what really happened, and it’s quite something. And before anyone yells at me, this isn’t intended to be political (in the sense of being pro or anti Trump), it’s just an interesting story…
Trump boarded Air Force One in Turkey, then snuck off
On July 8, 2026, there was video footage of Trump boarding the old Air Force One in Ankara, Turkey, ready to depart to RAF Mildenhall, in the United Kingdom. He climbed up the stairs of Air Force One, but as it turns out, he didn’t actually fly on the plane.
Instead, it’s now being reported that he actually secretly exited the plane on the other side, by getting on an airport catering truck. That catering truck then drove him to a nearby plane, which is what he actually flew to depart Turkey, unbeknownst to reporters, and even many of his aides (who were on the Air Force One jet).
You can see part of this operation in the below video.
Let me just go through this in a bit more detail:
- Trump flew to Turkey on his new Air Force One jet, gifted by Qatar, which obviously doesn’t have the same safety equipment as the old Air Force One jet (given that it just took months, rather than years, to retrofit it)
- Authorities apparently learned about some sort of an Iranian assassination attempt, which is what triggered the operation intended to conceal the plane on which Trump was actually departing the country
- So the Qatar gifted plane took off from Ankara first, but no one ever thought Trump was on that, since he publicly said he wasn’t
- Trump then publicly boarded the old Air Force One jet, the VC-25A (based on the Boeing 747-200), and tried to make it look as if that’s the plane he was flying on
- Trump then exited the plane on the other side through a catering truck, and that then drove to the nearby Air Force Boeing C-32A (based on the 757-200), where it also pulled up to the rear door; this is also the plane that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was flying on
- White House aides and reporters boarded the old Air Force One jet, were told to lower their window shades, and throughout the flight had no clue that Trump wasn’t actually onboard
- The old Air Force One jet then took off with the callsign “Air Force One,” even though the president wasn’t actually on it, while Trump flew on the C-32A, under the callsign “Reach 18”
- The plane Trump was on then overtook the Air Force One jet while enroute, and landed at RAF Mildenhall first
- Trump then somehow still got onto the old Air Force One jet, so that he could exit that plane in front of the cameras, making it appear as if he was actually on that plane
Interestingly, on the later flight to Washington on the new Air Force One, reporters asked Trump why they had to keep their window shades down on the previous flight (again, not knowing that Trump wasn’t actually on the plane). He responded they were “probably on a dangerous flight,” and went on to say “but if I go, you go, right?”
Hah, I’m surprised we didn’t catch on earlier
This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen such an operation involving the president. Back in 2000, a similar tactic was employed for former President Bill Clinton, where he flew an unmarked executive jet into Pakistan, while sending the “real” Air Force One as a decoy.
Going back and watching the video footage now, it seems rather obvious that something was off. You don’t typically see airport catering trucks pulled up to Air Force One at the same time that the president is boarding, and moments before the plane is about to depart. Like, Air Force One isn’t an American Boeing 737 making a 50-minute turn in Charlotte. 😉
However, even if you were to find that strange, you probably wouldn’t come to the conclusion that the president is secretly being shuttled on a catering truck, and is flying on an airplane without the “Air Force One” callsign.
Bottom line
In early July, Trump’s departure from a NATO summit in Turkey made headlines, as he claimed he was flying on the old Air Force One, rather than the one that was newly gifted from Qatar. As it turns out, there’s even more to this story, though, as flying the old Air Force One was just a decoy.
Instead, Trump boarded the old Air Force One, then exited it through a catering truck, and flew another Air Force jet to the United Kingdom. Even when landing there, he somehow got back onto the “standard” Air Force One, to make it appear as if he had actually flown that…
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