Trump Used Decoy Plane and Catering Truck to Evade Iranian Assassination Threat
President Donald Trump was reportedly spirited away from a deadly Iranian missile threat last month, leaving a top diplomat, the Treasury Secretary, and the White House press corps at risk while he secretly flew home from Turkey. Trump made the journey with only a handful of trusted staff, including a young assistant who rarely leaves his side.
A Washington Post report revealed that a catering truck was used to smuggle Trump out of the modified Boeing 747—which he had boarded publicly—after this year’s NATO summit. Trump then transferred to a C-32A, a military version of the Boeing 757, which was being used at the time by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On the covert flight, Trump was accompanied by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Oval Office Operations Director Walt Nauta, and Natalie Harp. Harp, a 34-year-old executive assistant nicknamed the ‘human printer’, is known for her duty of providing large-format printouts of news articles and social media posts for Trump.
Meanwhile, other cabinet officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Communications Director Stephen Cheung remained on the Boeing 747. The aircraft continued to use the Air Force One call sign as a decoy, while the plane carrying Trump flew under the call sign REACH 88.
The operation was designed by the Secret Service in an effort to protect the president from Iranian surface-to-air missile threats and potential shoulder-fired missile attacks. US intelligence had previously warned of a credible threat to presidential transport.
This threat also prompted Trump to abandon the VC-25 Bridge aircraft provided by Qatar and opt for a 1990s-era Boeing, as the newer plane was deemed to lack adequate missile defence systems.
The decision to secretly move Trump and leave staff and press on a plane serving as a decoy has raised ethical questions. Concerns have emerged that security authorities deliberately placed dozens of lives in danger to protect the president.
However, Trump defended the decision. He claimed that he was actually in greater danger on the plane he secretly boarded. ‘I think the plane I was on actually had more risk,’ Trump told reporters. ‘I think it was riskier because that was the plane they would likely target.’ When asked if he endangered the lives of passengers on the decoy plane, Trump insisted he was merely following security instructions. ‘It’s entirely up to the Secret Service. I just did what they wanted to do. They wanted me to take a different flight, a different plane, with equal security. I did what they said,’ he concluded.