President Donald Trump was moved off a visible Air Force One boarding sequence in Ankara onto a C-32A after the NATO summit, using an airport catering truck as part of an elaborate decoy operation tied to a reported Iranian threat. White House personnel and journalists travelling with the presidential party initially saw the public-facing VC-25A function as the apparent departure aircraft, while the smaller military jet carried Trump onwards to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.
The reported operation took place on 8 July after the summit, but details emerged only now through multiple accounts from officials familiar with the flight. The decoy arrangement meant staff and press remained with the VC-25A while the president transferred discreetly to the C-32A, reducing visibility around the actual departure. The publicly seen aircraft later continued under the Air Force One call sign, reinforcing the impression that Trump had boarded the larger jet.
The episode underscores the extent of threat-driven security planning around presidential air travel and the operational flexibility available to the US Air Force for high-risk movements. It also highlights the unusual use of a catering vehicle in a covert passenger transfer at Ankara International Airport, a detail that has drawn attention because of the secrecy involved and the unusual split between the visible aircraft and the one actually used for the onward flight.