Trump Was Smuggled Off Air Force One in a Catering Truck to Escape an Iranian Threat in Turkey — and Congress Learned About It From the Press a Month Later
Leaving the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July 2026, President Trump boarded Air Force One and then, at the direction of the Secret Service, quietly got back off. He was driven across the tarmac inside an airport catering truck — the kind normally used to load meals and supplies — and put aboard a smaller Air Force C-32A, which flew him out separately. The original 747 departed as a decoy, still carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, other White House staff and the traveling press corps. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew with Trump on the smaller jet. The trigger, according to officials, was intelligence about an Iranian cell with a shoulder-fired missile capable of downing the aircraft. None of it was disclosed at the time. The episode became public only on August 10, 2026, through reporting by The Washington Post and The New York Times, roughly a month after it happened. Trump confirmed it the next day, saying he was simply following the Secret Service — "I just follow what they'd like to do" — and downplaying the danger to the people left on the decoy: "I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. Because that would be the plane, I think, that they would be more likely to go for." White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the operation, saying the administration uses "every tool at our disposal." The bipartisan Gang of Eight — the congressional leaders and intelligence committee heads who receive the government's most sensitive briefings — was not told. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded an immediate classified briefing, calling it "unacceptable that Congress was kept in the dark." House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes said flatly, "We were not briefed," and Sen. Mark Warner, his Senate counterpart, was not briefed either, according to his office. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the episode "unprecedented" and "surreal," and Sen. Chris Coons faulted Trump for leaving his own Cabinet and the press aboard the decoy. Republican congressional leaders largely declined to comment.
“I understand putting a priority on the president's security, but frankly, this was just a despicable incident of disrespect for the press and for members of his own Cabinet.”