Why the Switch Happened
The last-minute swap has led to questions about whether the people left behind on the original plane were ever in danger. Trump pushed back on that idea Tuesday, suggesting the aircraft he actually boarded may have faced the bigger risk, since it was more likely to be targeted.
Officials have said the U.S. had picked up a credible threat that Iran intended to fire a missile at the plane. Separate reporting indicated that intelligence agencies had identified someone near the summit location in Ankara who had reportedly been spotted carrying a shoulder-fired missile.
Notably, most of the journalists and White House staff traveling that day had no idea the switch had even happened. Trump has said before that he considered himself Iran's top target during the Ankara summit.
"I guess there was a threat out there," he told reporters Tuesday during a stop in Ohio aboard Air Force One. "I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats." He added that there are threats against him that the public simply never hears about.
The secret maneuver took place just a day after the U.S. carried out fresh military strikes on Iran, following the collapse of talks aimed at ending hostilities between Washington and Tehran.
How the Plane Swap Unfolded
Trump had flown into Turkey on a newer Boeing 747-8, a gift from Qatar, but chose to leave aboard the older, traditional Air Force One, saying at the time it was "for old time's sake." Cameras captured him boarding that plane at the Ankara airport on July 8, as expected.
But behind the scenes, he reportedly exited through a catering truck raised to the height of the aircraft, positioned on the side opposite from where he'd originally boarded. From there, he was quietly moved onto a smaller C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 more commonly used to transport the vice president.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is said to have boarded that smaller plane separately, using the exterior stairs, apparently to keep things looking routine. Meanwhile, journalists and staff who stayed on the original Air Force One were told to keep their window shades shut, with no idea the president was no longer aboard.
One producer traveling with the press pool later described the shade instruction as odd at the time. When a photographer briefly cracked one open, they were quickly told to close it again. These details came out in an account published this week by a journalists' association.
There were also reportedly two catering trucks stationed near the plane, and the press van in the motorcade had been positioned too far back to capture Trump actually boarding.
Interesting side note: "Air Force One" is technically just the call sign given to whichever aircraft the president is flying on. On this occasion, the smaller C-32A used the call sign "Reach 18," while the plane carrying the media kept using the standard "AF1" designation to maintain the illusion.
According to reports, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were among the cabinet members who remained on the original aircraft. Trump eventually made his way to the UK before returning to the U.S., reappearing publicly as he stepped off the older Air Force One after it landed at RAF Mildenhall. How exactly he transferred from the C-32A back to that aircraft remains unclear.
Trump's Response to Reporters
From there, Trump switched to the newer Qatari-gifted jet for the flight back to Washington. Talking to reporters during that leg of the trip, he brought up the Iranian threat but didn't mention the earlier switch at all.
When asked why the shades had been drawn on the flight out of Turkey, Trump offered a blunt explanation: "Because you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with." He repeated that he faces constant threats to his life and believes he's at the very top of Iran's target list.
