Iran has mocked Donald Trump over a secret security operation that saw the US president covertly transferred from Air Force One in Turkey to a smaller military jet, suggesting he had hidden in a catering vehicle during the escape. The taunt came after reports revealed that Trump was moved between aircraft because of a credible Iranian threat to his safety.
The move took place after Trump attended a NATO summit in Ankara in July. Publicly, the president appeared to leave aboard an older aircraft serving as Air Force One, while the real plan was considerably more complicated. According to reports citing officials familiar with the operation, Trump was secretly transferred to a C-32A military aircraft, with an airport catering truck used to conceal the movement.
Iran Targets Trump Over the Secret Plane Switch
The Iranian post seized on the unusual operation, portraying Trump as a 'coward' who had to hide from a threat from Tehran.
'This is the size of the place where the coward Trump hid during Operation "TACO",' the post said. It claimed Trump had secretly moved from the 'Presidential' plane to another aircraft 'by hiding in a food and drinks cart'.
هذا هو حجم المكان الذي اختبأ فيه الجبان ترامب خلال عملية "تاكو".
— إيران بالعربية (@iraninarabic_ir) August 13, 2026
حيث انتقل سراً من طائرة "الرئاسة" إلى طائرة أخرى عن طريق الاختباء في عربة للطعام والمشروبات. pic.twitter.com/4hp49lt7fX
The post plays on the long-running political insult 'TACO', short for 'Trump Always Chickens Out', which has been used by Trump's critics to describe occasions when he has threatened action and later backed away. There is an important detail behind the meme, however. Trump was not literally stuffed into one of the small trolley-style carts used inside an aircraft.
Reports describe an airport catering truck or catering vehicle, the type used to load food and drinks onto planes. The distinction matters because the viral image of a president being wheeled across an airport hidden beneath a tablecloth is rather different from what the reported operation involved.
According to Reuters, Trump publicly boarded an older Air Force One aircraft after the NATO summit before being covertly removed and transported in a catering vehicle to the smaller C-32A. The older aircraft subsequently travelled to Britain as a decoy, with journalists and some White House staff unaware that Trump was not actually aboard.
Why Trump Was Secretly Moved From Air Force One
The operation was reportedly prompted by a credible missile threat potentially linked to Iran and concerns that the aircraft carrying Trump could be targeted. The reported warning came amid intense tensions between Washington and Tehran following US military strikes on Iran.
The Qatari-donated Boeing 747 that Trump had used to travel to Turkey had separately faced questions about its defensive capabilities. Reporting indicated that it lacked some of the advanced countermeasures installed on the older presidential aircraft.
The decision to use the C-32A, however, was made in response to the immediate security threat rather than simply because of concerns about the Qatari jet. The deception extended beyond the aircraft itself.
The older Air Force One departed Turkey carrying senior officials, White House staff and members of the press corps, maintaining the appearance that Trump remained aboard. Trump travelled separately aboard the C-32A to Britain before later rejoining the presidential aircraft operation there.
Trump later acknowledged that threats to his safety existed and said the Secret Service and military had instructed him to change aircraft. 'They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane,' Trump said. 'I do what they say.'
Social media users quickly dubbed the imagined vehicle 'Cart Force One' and 'TACO Truck', while others joked about what food might have been inside. The Iranian messaging similarly sought to turn the extraordinary security operation into political ridicule.
Yet beneath the jokes sits a more serious fact. The operation was reportedly intended to protect the US president from a potentially lethal threat, and deliberately misleading journalists and even members of the presidential entourage was part of the elaborate deception used to conceal his actual movements.
