On 8 July, footage showed him boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport.
But according to the Washington Post, he slipped off Air Force One on to a catering truck that had been elevated to plane level on the opposite side to where he had boarded.
He was then secretly taken to a smaller C-32A military aircraft – a modified Boeing 757 often used by the vice-president.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs in an effort to make the flight appear normal, according to the newspaper.
Journalists and some White House staff boarded Air Force One and were reportedly told to close their window shades. They were unaware the president was no longer on board.
A media pool producer who was on the plane said they found it unusual when they were told to keep the window shades down. A photographer briefly opened a shade and reportedly was quickly told to close it.
The producer’s comments were detailed in a report from the White House Correspondents’ Association on Tuesday.
They also noted there appeared to have been two catering trucks at both the front and back of the plane when the press arrived, and that the media van had been too far back in the motorcade at the airport be able to take a photo of the president boarding.
