EXCLUSIVE: Trump Sparks 'Sitting Duck' Assassination Fears With Catering Cart 'Farce'

Donald Trump has been left facing "sitting duck" assassination fears after officials resorted to a catering-cart ruse to spirit the US president away from his apparent Air Force One departure in Turkey, according to senior officials familiar with the security operation.

RadarOnline.com can reveal the president, 80, had been attending the NATO summit in Turkey before leaving on July 8, when his security team are said to have confronted a credible Iranian threat against him and whichever aircraft carried him.

The White House said he would depart aboard an older presidential 747 before returning through Britain to Washington on his new plane.

Trump had publicly said he would be leaving Turkey on one of the older versions of Air Force One rather than a luxury 747-8 donated by Qatar, which he had flown in on, with the president saying the choice was being made for "old times' sake" – before he is said to have boarded the newer Air Force One.

Mr. Trump boarded the older plane from the left-side door in view of cameras, and news organizations, including The New York Times, reported that he had traveled on it to Britain, where he switched back to the newer plane.

The operation was seemingly devised within hours after Trump was personally briefed on the danger.

Trump had boarded the older modified 747 from its left-side door in view of cameras, while reporters hurried aboard through lower steps at the rear.

But Trump was then reportedly removed from the opposite side of the aircraft using a catering container and transferred to a C-32A, the military variant of a Boeing 757, for a secret flight to Britain.

Reporters and some White House staff continued aboard Air Force One without being told Trump was elsewhere, becoming unwitting decoys.

The older aircraft landed at RAF Mildenhall at 10:16pm.

Trump was driven back to the presidential 747, boarded through another entrance, and later descended its upper left-side stairs in view of reporters before walking across the tarmac to the Qatar-donated aircraft to Washington.

Asked why the older aircraft had been used, Trump said he had wanted troops at the British base to see the newer plane.

The apparent security maneuver followed years of Iranian threats against Trump and advisers after he ordered the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qassim Suleimani, who was 62 when he died.

Decoy aircraft had also occasionally been used during Trump's 2024 presidential campaign after intelligence indicated Iran still wanted to harm him.

But a senior security force told Radar in an exclusive interview the ploy had "backfired" as it made Trump's security "look farcical."

They said: "There were real fears Trump could have been left a sitting duck for an assassination attempt if Iran knew exactly which plane he was boarding. "Officials believed they had to disguise his movements, but having to hide the president inside a catering container has made his security seem like something out of a comedy film.

"This 'operation' descended into a catering-cart farce, with reporters and even some White House staff flying on a decoy plane believing the president was aboard.

"But behind what looked like an elaborate game of misdirection was a deadly serious fear that Trump could be targeted if his true whereabouts were exposed.

"And now, reports he is being shipped around in secret containers like a scene out of some spy comedy movie farce has made him even more vulnerable, as the perception is his security team is something of a farce."

Former Secret Service agent Donald Mihalek said decoy motorcades and aircraft had previously been used to protect presidents in dangerous environments.

Mihalek told The New York Times: "Anytime the president is in a theater where there's potential combat danger, the Secret Service has employed protective counter measures including the use of a decoy."

He added: "The agency is not the agency of public affairs. The agency is the agency of the Secret Service. Their number one job is to keep the president safe."

White House communications director Steven Cheung said: "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 – including distraction and misdirection – to address those threats."