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Secret swap after threat
US President Donald Trump confirmed he secretly swapped planes while departing from Turkey after a NATO summit last month, saying the Secret Service and the military wanted him to go on a different flight and different plane.
“I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane”
Trump told reporters, "I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane," and he added, "I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk."
The switch, which occurred on July 8, involved Trump being moved between aircraft in a catering truck and onto a military plane in Ankara, according to US media reports cited by Al Jazeera.
The BBC reported that officials told CBS News the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane, and it said the New York Times reported US intelligence had information of a person near the NATO summit seen with a shoulder-fired missile.
Decoy plane and backlash
The reported ruse left journalists and some White House staff on the decoy aircraft, and Trump said he followed security advice while insisting the plane he boarded could have been at "greater risk".
Trump told reporters, "I just have to do what they say," and the BBC said he claimed the jet he boarded instead could have been at "greater risk... because that would be the plane, I think, that they would be more likely to go for."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded the White House immediately brief Congress, saying, "It is unacceptable that Congress was kept in the dark and instead learned about this serious threat through press reports."
NBC News reported that those left behind on the decoy plane included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and it said Trump told reporters he "didn't really ask so much" about the threat while saying he was "not surprised" there had been one.
Congressional scrutiny and risk
Multiple outlets tied the plane swap to a potential Iranian attack, with the BBC saying the US had detected a credible Iranian threat and the Washington Post reporting Trump was smuggled out of Air Force One on 8 July while the aircraft was on the ground in Turkey.
“The presidential Air Force One jet was used as a decoy”
The Telegraph described the operation as a ruse in which the presidential Air Force One jet was used as a decoy to fly the White House press corps and senior aides across Europe while they remained unaware the president was not on board, and it said the covert C-32A flight landed at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk at 10.20pm.
Trump said he was following security advice, telling reporters, "It's only up to Secret Service," and he argued the plane he flew on was at "greater risk" because it would be the plane attackers would be more likely to go for.
In the aftermath, NBC News said congressional Democrats were demanding a briefing from officials on the specifics of Trump's flight last month and any security threats that surrounded it, while Al Jazeera reported that numerous Iranian state-linked media mocked the US president’s secret departure.
