When US President Trump returned home from the NATO summit in Ankara, there was immediate controversy. This was because he travelled on an older, blue-and-white Air Force One plane, not the donated presidential plane from Qatar with red decor on which he arrived.
Now The Washington Post is publishing new information, citing informed sources. After the president boarded the older plane in full view of the world's press, he was smuggled out the back to a third, smaller aircraft, according to the sources.
Video on X
Journalists and White House staffers who remained on board believed the president was still with them, according to the newspaper. The plan was reportedly put into action due to a “credible threat involving Iran.”
Donald Trump's visit to Ankara took place shortly after peace talks between Washington, DC, and Tehran broke down, and the US resumed its attacks.
The sequence of events appears to be shown in a video on X, published by John Hudson, a reporter for The Washington Post. In the clip, President Trump is seen entering the older Air Force One, while a catering truck is parked on the other side of the plane. Five minutes later, the food truck drives away and parks next to a third, smaller US government plane.
When the president boarded Air Force One, the cargo area of the catering truck was raised to cabin level at a door on the other side of the plane, according to a source. This way, Trump could leave the plane without being seen, be driven to the smaller plane – a Boeing 757 – and sneak aboard there instead.
Off – and on
During a stopover in Mildenhall, UK, Trump is said to have made his way back to the light blue plane, how is unclear, and then changed planes one last time to take the Qatar plane across the Atlantic home. The media contingent also changed planes in England, and then got to speak with Trump during the final leg.
In Turkey, media personnel were reportedly instructed to cover their windows at takeoff. When they asked Trump during the final leg why, he replied that it was because he was “number one” on Iran’s death list.
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The White House has not commented on the veracity of The Washington Post's latest information. But communications director Steven Cheung, according to the newspaper, says that "many of America's enemies have the president as a target, and we are using all the tools we have to deal with those threats."
Air Force One is the designation and call sign of the plane belonging to the United States Air Force that has the president on board (if the president is in one of the Marine Corps helicopters, he is given the call sign Marine One).
For longer trips, the president normally uses one of two modified Boeing 747-200Bs, more than 30 years old, designated 28,000 and 29,000. The plane can be refuelled in the air, which in practice means that the range is unlimited.
The aircraft has equipment to withstand an electromagnetic pulse – which normally knocks out all electronics – and a medical section where surgeries can be performed.
The total floor area on one level is over 370 square metres.
Current US President Donald Trump has also used a newer Boeing 747 donated by Qatar in May 2025. The gift raised both ethical and security questions. At least at the time of delivery, some of the safety features found in older presidential aircraft were missing, The New York Times reported in July.
Source: White House
