Air Force One swap incident

While departing the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey on July 8, 2026, President Donald Trump secretly swapped planes due to an [...] threat from Iran against Air Force One relayed to the US by Israel. The swap was not made public until an August 10, 2026 article in The Washington Post reported the ruse.

Trump had arrived in Turkey on the Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft, and was scheduled to depart on the legacy Boeing VC-25 model. Trump boarded the VC-25 in view of cameras, and minutes later was instead secretly transferred via a catering truck to a smaller Boeing C-32A military aircraft and flew to RAF Mildenhall air base in the United Kingdom. When Trump arrived in the UK, he subsequently transferred back to the Boeing VC-25 and was seen leaving the VC-25 as if he has traveled on it.

Several members of Trump's cabinet including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with members of the press, flew on the legacy aircraft. Journalists and several White House staff aboard the legacy aircraft were unaware Trump had travelled on another plane.

Background

Previous presidential travel on Air Force One, including by President Bill Clinton, had been subject to misinformation to protect the president. In 2000, Clinton used a similar decoy on a trip to Islamabad, Pakistan, where a Clinton lookalike secret service agent deplaned from the VC-25, and Clinton arrived on an unmarked jet. In that incident, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association was briefed about the swap and Clinton’s actual whereabouts.

Reaction

The decision to not inform reporters on board the "decoy" VC-25 aircraft of the swap was criticized by Democratic members of Congress and former government officials.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement saying "It is unacceptable that Congress was kept in the dark and instead learned about this serious threat through press reports."

Senator Chris Coons criticized Trump's actions, saying, "I understand putting a priority on the president’s security, but frankly, this was just a despicable incident of disrespect for the press and for members of his own Cabinet."

Former CIA director John Brennan, said the White House had an "ethical requirement" to inform the press pool.

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial noting "The press corps, which had been left on the decoy Presidential plane, understandably is up in arms. But the real story is the seriousness of Iran’s efforts to kill the President."

On August 12, 2026, The Washington Post reported that the CIA was skeptical of an Iranian [...] threat to Trump relayed by Israel. An official who spoke to the Post said the threats were "Israeli-derived, not US-generated, and viewed as low confidence."