The Secret Service secretly moved President Donald Trump onto an unmarked government jet on July 8 after receiving a credible shoulder-fired missile threat during his NATO visit to Ankara, a person briefed on the matter said. Trump and a small group of aides transferred via a catering truck to a C-32A while Air Force One departed separately as a decoy carrying senior officials and the press pool. Trump confirmed the switch and flew to a refueling stop in Britain without incident. Reports also suggested Iranian operatives had detailed knowledge of the president’s hotel accommodations in Ankara.
Secret Service Moved Trump to Unmarked Jet After Credible Missile Threat, Source Says
FILE PHOTO: A catering truck is parked on the other side of Air Force One, before U.S. President Donald Trump's departure from Ankara en route to Washington after his participation in the NATO leaders' summit, at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/ABC-TV/Pool/File Photo
A credible threat that Air Force One could be struck by a shoulder-fired missile prompted the Secret Service to move President Donald Trump onto an unmarked government jet during his trip to Turkey, a person briefed on the matter said.
The warning emerged on the final day of Trump’s visit to Ankara for the NATO summit amid heightened tensions with Iran, the source said. The Secret Service judged the intelligence to be credible and imminent and carried out a discreet operation to conceal the president’s movements.
The source declined to disclose the origin of the intelligence.
According to the source, on July 8 Trump and a small group of aides slipped into a catering truck and quietly transferred from the large blue-and-white presidential airplane to a smaller, nondescript C-32A jet for the flight out of Turkey. Air Force One departed separately, carrying senior administration officials, White House staff and the traveling press corps.
"I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk," Trump told reporters, offering no evidence. "I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for."
Trump later flew from Ankara to a refueling stop in Britain without incident, the source said.
The Washington Post first published details of the operation this week. The New York Times separately reported that U.S. officials were alarmed to learn Iranian operatives appeared to know where Trump was staying in Ankara, reportedly including the exact floor of his hotel.
The source named several people who were aboard the jet that left as a decoy and said the usual 13-person press pool, including a Reuters correspondent and photographer, were aboard that aircraft. The source also identified several aides who accompanied the president in the catering truck.
Some commentators and lawmakers questioned whether the ruse unnecessarily placed aides and journalists at risk by leaving them on the aircraft presumed to be carrying the president. The source said officials concluded the secrecy was in the president’s best interest as hostilities with Iran escalated.
Turkish officials did not immediately comment on the reported threat.
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