Report suggests a threat forced Trump to switch aircraft as he departed NATO summit

NPR | By Tamara Keith,

Leila Fadel

Published August 12, 2026 at 4:46 AM EDT

President Trump boarded Air Force One last month as usual. But the Washington Post reports he was smuggled off the plane in a catering truck and flew on an entirely different aircraft due to a threat.

Tamara Keith

Tamara Keith is a Senior Political Correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

See stories by Tamara Keith

Leila Fadel

Leila Fadel is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

See stories by Leila Fadel

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