Trump Left Ankara in a Catering Truck and His Cabinet Stayed on the Plane

On 8 July at Ankara airport, Donald Trump boarded Air Force One in front of the cameras, then left it by airport catering truck and flew out on an Air Force C-32A, a smaller military transport. The aircraft he stepped off, the older baby blue one, took off as planned. The New York Times reports it was carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the aides Stephen Miller and Steven Cheung, and journalists.

The threat that prompted the switch was specific. Intelligence indicated an Iranian plan to bring down the president's plane with a shoulder fired missile, and someone near the NATO summit had been seen with one. The Iranians were also said to have identified the floor of Trump's hotel in Ankara. Several sources judged the warning credible, and the Secret Service and the military moved him.

The decision solved one problem by transferring it. A decoy works only if it is convincing, and it was convincing because it was full. Everyone left on board was exposed to the risk the president had been removed from, and the reporting does not say who among them knew.

Trump confirmed the change of aircraft on Tuesday, saying he goes by the Secret Service and the military, that they wanted him on a different plane, and that he has to do what they say. He flew to RAF Mildenhall in Britain.