Trump Secretly Ditched Air Force One for Military Plane Amid Assassination Threat: Report

President Donald Trump was secretly whisked off Air Force One in an airport catering truck and flown out of Turkey aboard a different military aircraft last month after officials identified a credible Iranian assassination threat, according to a bombshell report from The Washington Post. The elaborate operation took place on July 8 as Trump departed Ankara following a NATO summit and one day after the U.S. renewed military strikes on Iran. While the White House publicly maintained that Trump traveled to Britain aboard the legacy Air Force One - not his gifted Qatari jet - the president was actually aboard an Air Force C-32A, a modified Boeing 757, the Post reported. Minutes later, however, Trump and several aides secretly exited through another door and entered an airport catering truck that had been raised to the aircraft. One U.S. official described the plane carrying the press and staff as a 'decoy.' The secret flight reportedly used the nondescript call sign 'Reach 18,' while the legacy plane carrying reporters and staff eventually appeared on flight trackers as 'AF1' despite Trump not being aboard. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth separately boarded the C-32A and traveled with Trump to Britain, according to the report. 'But if I go, you go. Right?' Trump told reporters. 'Perhaps someday you want to change professions.' The New York Times later reported that the move was prompted by security concerns surrounding the aircraft.