U.S. aircraft and Trump’s Ankara visit | Explained

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The story so far: United States President Donald Trump is reported to have faced a threat at the 36th North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit (July 7-8, 2026), held in Türkiye. Mr. Trump, according to reports, is said to have moved between and used different aircraft as he left the summit due to a possible threat to his life. He has said, “I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane... I just have to do what they say.”

U.S. media channels were recently told by U.S. officials that there was a “credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the aircraft”; additionally, U.S. intelligence was in possession of information that an individual had been seen near the summit area with a shoulder-fired missile.

Mr. Trump arrived in Ankara on the ‘new’ Air Force One, which is a Boeing 747-8 that has been gifted to the U.S. by Qatar. He was then to have left the summit on an older Air Force One, a Boeing 747-200B, or the VC-25A.

On July 8, television reports showed Mr. Trump boarding the VC-25A aircraft. He then paused for a while, waved, and entered the aircraft. But unknown to media personnel and White House staff on board — they were told to keep the window shades closed — he is said to have quickly moved to a catering truck that was positioned at the opposite aircraft door. He was then transported to a smaller C-32A military aircraft (a modified Boeing 757). An official site of the U.S. government says that officials and those who use this aircraft include the U.S. Vice-President, the U.S. First Lady, and members of the cabinet and Congress.

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded this aircraft (the C-32A) separately.

Those who remained on the VC-25A aircraft included some members of the Trump cabinet — reportedly U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

All the aircraft departed Türkiye with a stopover at RAF Mildenhall, the Royal Air Force station, in Suffolk, in the United Kingdom.

In another secret operation, Mr. Trump is said to have moved from the Boeing 757/C-32A and reboarded the Boeing 747/VC-25A aircraft. He was seen exiting this aircraft to make it appear as if he had been travelling on board. He then moved to the Qatar-donated Boeing 747 and returned to the United States. In short, this was a three aircraft switch.

The Qatar-donated Boeing 747-8 at the Etimesgut air base near Ankara, ahead of the 36th NATO Summit | Photo Credit: AFP

The Qatar-donated Boeing 747-8 is the newest addition to the presidential fleet and is called the ‘Bridge aircraft’ or the interim presidential aircraft. It was offered by Qatar to the U.S. in 2025 in “as-is” condition, with the Pentagon to oversee the necessary security and crucial upgrades. The ‘donation’ of the more than 10-year-old jet, which was built as a luxury VIP jet for the Qatar royal fleet, caused political ripples and led to sharp criticism across the political divide — it was even called “a bribe”.