President Donald Trump was secretly moved off Air Force One in an airport catering truck and flown out of Turkey on a separate military aircraft last month after US intelligence received a “credible” threat from Iran, according to a Washington Post report published Monday.

The operation took place after the annual NATO Summit in Ankara on July 8. Journalists and several White House staff members believed they were travelling on the same Air Force One aircraft as Trump. However, the plane was used as a decoy while Trump secretly travelled on a smaller Air Force C-32A.

The elaborate plan began with Trump publicly boarding an older model of Air Force One. He was then secretly moved out of the presidential aircraft using a catering truck. The truck was lifted to a door on the opposite side of the plane. Trump and several aides entered the container before it was lowered onto a truck waiting on the tarmac.

The truck then drove across the airport to a nearby Air Force C-32A. The container was lifted again to the aircraft door, allowing Trump and his aides to board the plane without being seen. The C-32A had a similar blue-and-white design to Air Force One. It also carried the words “United States of America,” according to the Washington Post.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth also travelled with Trump on the secret flight. He boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs. A US official told the Washington Post that the move was intended “to make the flight appear typical.”

The C-32A left Ankara and flew to Mildenhall Air Base in the United Kingdom. It landed around nine minutes before Air Force One arrived at the same base with reporters and White House staff on board. Television footage and media reports later showed Trump coming down the external stairs of Air Force One about 25 minutes after the aircraft landed. It remains unclear how Trump moved from the C-32A to the other aircraft at Mildenhall.

After arriving at the UK base, Trump, White House staff and journalists boarded the $400 million jet gifted by Qatar. Trump had used the same aircraft to travel to Turkey. The plane is being used as a temporary Air Force One while Boeing works on the permanent replacement aircraft.

The unusual switch had already raised questions when Trump left Turkey. At the time, there was speculation over why the older Air Force One was used for the departure instead of the newer and more luxurious Qatari-gifted aircraft.

Trump and the White House denied that the change was linked to security concerns or an Iranian threat involving the new aircraft. However, the Washington Post reported that the covert operation was launched after US intelligence received a “credible” threat against Trump’s life. A US official did not provide details about the nature of the threat.

Several media outlets had reported last month that intelligence officials had identified a specific threat against the president. The reports indicated that the threat led authorities to change the travel arrangements. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Israel had warned the United States about a possible Iranian assassination plot targeting Trump.

The White House did not deny the Washington Post report about Trump’s secret flight from Turkey. When asked about the report, White House communications director Steven Cheung highlighted the security features of the Qatari-gifted aircraft.

“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” Cheung said in a statement. “As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”

The White House also referred to an Air Force statement defending the safety and security of the aircraft, which Trump is currently using as a temporary Air Force One.

“The aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission,” read the statement. “Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritise mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.

“No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”

Trump later boarded the Qatari-gifted aircraft at Mildenhall and spoke to reporters from the back of the plane. He spoke for several minutes without revealing that he had not travelled with them during the first leg of the journey.

The secret operation allowed Trump to leave Turkey separately while journalists and White House staff remained on the decoy Air Force One. The reported Iranian threat added a new security dimension to the unusual aircraft switch and explained why officials went to such lengths to conceal the president’s movements.