President Donald Trump was secretly removed from Turkey during last month’s NATO summit after US officials received alarming intelligence suggesting that Iran could be planning an attempt to assassinate him.
According to officials familiar with the events, the threat assessment became serious enough that the Secret Service and senior military and White House officials devised an unusual evacuation plan. Trump ultimately left the NATO summit in Ankara hidden inside an empty catering truck before boarding a smaller C-32A aircraft bound for Britain.
Intelligence Raised Alarm Inside the Trump Team
Earlier on July 8, American officials learned that Iranian operatives appeared to know which luxury hotel Trump had been staying at in Ankara and how his motorcade was moving through the Turkish capital.
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There were also concerns that Iran could attempt to target Air Force One with a shoulder-fired missile near the airport, according to US officials cited by CNN.
The Israeli government had shared intelligence about a potential Iranian assassination plot with the CIA. However, some officials inside the agency questioned the credibility of the intelligence and whether Iran actually possessed the capability to carry out such an attack.
Three US sources said intelligence assessments conducted before Trump’s trip had not identified a new, specific Iranian plot to kill the president. Instead, there had been continuing intelligence chatter about Iranian figures calling for Trump’s death.
Secret Service Decided the Threat Was Serious Enough
As the NATO summit continued, additional intelligence emerged concerning a possible missile attack on Air Force One from the ground near the Ankara airport.
Some officials considered the scenario unlikely because security surrounding the NATO summit was exceptionally tight. Tens of thousands of Turkish security personnel and police officers had been deployed throughout Ankara, while multiple security layers surrounded the summit venue and airport.
No militants were arrested and no evidence of a missile plot was recovered after Trump left Turkey.
Nevertheless, the Secret Service concluded that the potential danger had to be taken seriously.
“The threat was serious enough that extreme measures needed to be taken that day,” a US official told CNN.
Trump Continued His Schedule Despite the Threat
Some security officials initially believed Trump should leave Turkey earlier in the day, immediately after the missile threat emerged.
That proposal was rejected, and Trump continued with his planned meetings, including talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, before holding his press conference.
Trump appeared conscious of the danger.
“I’m on every single one of their lists,” he said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky. But that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
The Catering Truck Deception
The most unusual part of the security operation involved a white catering truck.
Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard the Qatar-donated Boeing 747 that he had promoted as a new aircraft for presidential travel. Officials, however, determined that neither that aircraft nor the older Air Force One was ideal for his return journey.
Trump publicly created an explanation for why the new aircraft would not immediately return to the United States.
He posted that the Qatar-donated jet would fly to a British airbase so US troops could tour the aircraft. He said he would instead return on the older plane.
In reality, Trump would take neither aircraft.
Instead, the Secret Service and his advisers devised a deception designed to conceal his actual movements.
Trump Was Hidden Inside an Empty Catering Vehicle
After leaving his press conference, Trump initially boarded the older Air Force One.
He then quickly moved from the main entrance to another exit on the opposite side of the aircraft, where a white catering truck was waiting.
The vehicle had been emptied and cleaned beforehand. US officials had arranged to use it earlier in the day without explaining precisely why they needed it.
Inside the truck were Trump, executive assistant Natalie Harp, former body man Walt Nauta and Dan Scavino, along with Secret Service agents.
The truck then crossed the airport tarmac to a smaller C-32A aircraft. The journey took just 162 seconds, with a Secret Service agent sitting beside the driver.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later joined Trump aboard the C-32A for the flight to RAF Mildenhall in Britain.
White House Staff Were Left on the Decoy Plane
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained aboard the larger aircraft, along with several senior White House officials.
Those left behind included top policy adviser Stephen Miller, communications director Steven Cheung, staff secretary Will Scharf, deputy national security adviser Michael Needham and deputy chief of staff Richard Walters.
Some members of the White House advance and press teams were unaware that Trump was no longer aboard the aircraft.
They were reportedly instructed to keep the plane’s window shades closed.
Fighter Jets Escorted Both Aircraft
The deception did not mean the larger aircraft was simply abandoned.
Fighter jets were assembled to escort both aircraft out of Turkey, suggesting that American officials considered the security risk significant enough to protect both the real presidential flight and the apparent flight.
Former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow said the use of decoys is not unprecedented when protecting a president. He compared the operation to the use of multiple identical helicopters to make it more difficult for potential attackers to determine the president’s exact location.
The extraordinary operation underscores the level of concern surrounding threats against Trump during the NATO summit, even though American officials later found no evidence that an Iranian missile attack had actually been prepared at the Ankara airport.
