Trump Confirms Secret Plane Switch in Turkey Amid Iran Missile Threat

President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday that he was instructed to switch planes after reports detailed his secret move to a decoy aircraft during his departure from a NATO summit in Turkey in July.

U.S. intelligence detected a credible threat from Iran, including information that Iran knew Trump's hotel floor in Ankara and that someone near the summit had a shoulder-fired missile. Secret Service and military advisors concluded a misdirection was necessary. Trump publicly boarded an older Air Force One, announcing he would fly on it for old time's sake.

Minutes later, he was secretly smuggled out via a catering truck to a different Boeing C-32A military jet. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino traveled with Trump on the C-32A. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with aides Stephen Miller, Will Scharf, Steven Cheung, Mike Needham, Ross Worthington, and Monica Crowley, traveled on the decoy Air Force One. The incident occurred on July 8, the final day of Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit.

The decoy Air Force One, carrying journalists and White House staff, was protected by U.S. fighter jets on its flight to the United Kingdom. Staff and press on the decoy plane were instructed to keep window shades closed. Israel reportedly provided the US administration with intelligence about the Iranian threat. Trump stated he believes the plane he flew on (the C-32A) was at greater risk, saying "I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for."

He also said he does what the Secret Service and military tell him. Some White House officials and journalists were reportedly unaware Trump had disembarked the decoy Air Force One. White House correspondent S.V. Dáte wrote that journalists were made to be bait for a possible attack, a claim the official Trump administration account, Rapid Response 47, disputed. Conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson argued the Secret Service protects the President, not the press.