Iran Mocks Trump Over Secret Plane Switch

PHOTO CAPTION: A catering truck is parked next to Air Force One, before U.S. President Donald Trump's departure from Ankara en route to Washington after his participation in the NATO leaders' summit, at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/ABC-TV/Pool

DUBAI, Aug. 13 — Iranian state media mocked President Donald Trump after new details emerged about his secret aircraft switch during a visit to Turkey, portraying the security operation as evidence of U.S. fear of Iran’s military capabilities.

“Again, Trump, with his new scandal, has become the top subject in the U.S. media these days,” a presenter on Iranian state television said. The presenter described the episode as stemming from “fear of Iran’s military power” and said it had become a source of “humiliation” for Trump.

A threat that Air Force One could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile prompted the U.S. Secret Service to secretly move Trump onto a smaller government aircraft, according to a person briefed on the matter. The threat emerged on the final day of Trump’s visit to Ankara for a NATO summit, the source said, as tensions remained high because of the continuing U.S. war with Iran.

The Secret Service considered the threat credible and imminent, prompting an unusual operation designed to conceal the president’s movements. The New York Times separately reported that U.S. officials were alarmed to learn that Iranians knew where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the exact floor of his hotel.

Tehran has not officially commented on the allegations or the aircraft switch. The White House could not immediately be reached outside working hours.

Iranian media seizes on security operation

Billboards and murals around Tehran have increasingly targeted Trump and Israel, with imagery depicting the U.S. president in scenarios ranging from lying in a coffin to drowning at sea. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last month pledged vengeance for the death of his father and predecessor, who was killed on the first day of the war.

Trump and a small group of aides used a catering truck on July 8 to transfer from the blue-and-white presidential aircraft to a smaller, less conspicuous C-32A jet for the flight out of Turkey, according to the source briefed on the operation. Air Force One departed separately carrying senior administration officials, White House staff and the traveling press corps.

Iran’s Embassy in South Africa later posted on X that Trump “will be hidden in a trash can before long,” alongside a meme showing Trump inside a catering box filled with food. The embassy account, which is listed on its official website, frequently posts memes that are later amplified by Iranian state media.

The Washington Post first reported details of the aircraft-switch operation.

Previous threats against Trump

In 2024, the U.S. Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, who was then president-elect. Tehran denied the accusations in September 2024.

“Iranian hardliners, who have been talking about taking revenge for the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader on February 28, as well as some other senior political and military officials in Iran are basking in the fact that the United States was so afraid and concerned about President Trump’s safety and security,” said Ali Vaez, deputy program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group.

Iran and the United States remain divided over efforts to reach a permanent end to the Gulf war. A senior Iranian source said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim agreement reached in June.

During a podcast on Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, commentator Alireza Majidi also recalled Trump’s 2018 visit to Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq, where the president described extraordinary security measures taken during his trip.

“If you had seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever anywhere. Pitch black. I have never seen anything like it,” CNN quoted Trump as telling reporters during that visit.

(Source: Reuters)