WASHINGTON — New details are emerging about an extraordinary security operation that saw President Donald Trump secretly removed from Air Force One using an airport catering truck before being transferred to another military aircraft amid concerns over a potential Iranian threat.
The covert operation occurred following Trump’s attendance at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8.
According to new reporting from The Washington Post, only a small group of Trump’s closest aides accompanied the president inside the catering truck: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, executive assistant Natalie Harp and Director of Oval Office Operations Walt Nauta.
Notably, no Cabinet officials were inside the truck with Trump during the secret transfer.
The revelation provides new insight into a security operation designed to conceal the president’s actual movements from virtually everyone outside the small group responsible for protecting him.
AN ELABORATE DECEPTION
Trump had publicly boarded the Boeing 747 being used as Air Force One in Turkey, creating the appearance that the president would return aboard the familiar presidential aircraft.
But that was not the real departure plan.
After Trump boarded the 747 in view of cameras, an airport catering truck was reportedly raised to a door on the opposite side of the aircraft.
Trump and the three aides then entered the catering vehicle out of public view.
The truck lowered to the tarmac and transported the president to a smaller U.S. Air Force C-32A, a military version of the Boeing 757.
Trump boarded that aircraft and departed Turkey for Britain while the larger Air Force One aircraft was used as part of the deception.
The White House press corps and numerous other members of the traveling delegation were reportedly unaware that Trump was no longer aboard the aircraft they believed was carrying the president.
CABINET OFFICIALS LEFT OUT OF SECRET TRANSFER
The latest reporting indicates Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not inside the catering truck.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also did not make the truck transfer with Trump, although Hegseth separately boarded the smaller aircraft and traveled on the secret flight.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller were also reportedly not part of Trump’s catering truck group.
That meant the people physically accompanying the president during one of the most sensitive portions of the operation were three of his close White House aides rather than senior Cabinet officials.
REPORTED IRANIAN THREAT
The extraordinary precautions were taken after U.S. officials received intelligence concerning a potential Iranian threat to Trump’s aircraft.
The threat was considered serious enough that security officials developed an elaborate plan to obscure which aircraft was actually carrying the president.
The larger presidential aircraft departed Turkey separately while Trump’s smaller C-32A quietly carried him toward the United Kingdom.
The two aircraft later arrived at RAF Mildenhall in England, allowing the presidential travel operation to be reassembled.
Trump subsequently emerged from the larger Air Force One aircraft, further concealing the fact that he had made the flight from Turkey aboard the smaller plane.
TRUMP CONFIRMS SECRET PLANE SWITCH
Trump has now publicly acknowledged that the unusual operation occurred.
Speaking Wednesday, Trump said the Secret Service directed him to change aircraft because of a threat.
The president did not publicly provide extensive details about the intelligence behind the threat or exactly how authorities determined his aircraft could be targeted.
The Secret Service and other agencies responsible for presidential security generally reveal little about specific protective procedures that could compromise future operations.
A RARE LOOK INSIDE PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY
The incident offers an unusual glimpse into the lengths the United States can take to protect a president when intelligence indicates a potential threat.
Rather than simply increasing security around Air Force One, officials concealed the president’s location, secretly transferred him across the airport and sent the aircraft normally associated with the president on a separate flight.
The deception was apparently convincing enough that journalists and members of the presidential delegation traveling with the White House did not immediately know the president had been moved.
The latest disclosure, identifying exactly who accompanied Trump during the catering-truck transfer, provides another piece of the story surrounding one of the more unusual presidential security operations to become public in recent years.
The precise nature of the Iranian intelligence that prompted the operation has not been fully disclosed.
TWOSU News will continue following developments surrounding the reported threat and any additional information released about the operation.
