Trump Secretly Exited Decoy Aircraft During NATO Summit in Turkey
During a NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, President Trump covertly left Air Force One and boarded a separate military aircraft due to security concerns involving Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained on the original aircraft as part of a succession protocol. The press aboard the decoy plane was unaware of the operation.
On July 8 during a NATO summit in Turkey, President Trump covertly departed Air Force One and boarded a separate military aircraft due to security concerns involving Iran, according to BBC News reporting. The president was transported from the original aircraft in a catering truck to effect his clandestine exit.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained aboard the original Air Force One, which retained the call signal and became a decoy aircraft, per BBC News. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House communications director Steven Cheung also remained on the decoy aircraft. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was aboard the second aircraft that carried Trump out of Ankara.
According to BBC News, Rubio and Bessent stayed on the decoy aircraft "to maintain the line of succession in case something happened to Trump." The label "Air Force One" applies to any plane the president is on, but in this case the original craft kept the call signal, becoming a decoy as Trump flew on a separate plane.
Members of the press were not aware they were on a decoy flight, per BBC News reporting. It remains unclear what cabinet secretaries, other officials, and Air Force members working on the plane knew of the operation in advance.
Trump said the decision came from the U.S. military and the Secret Service, who "wanted me to go in a different flight." He provided no specifics about the security threat, telling reporters that he gets "a lot of threats" and that "any consequential president has a lot of threats."
The operation was not made transparent to the press, in contrast with a March 2000 incident when President Bill Clinton flew to Islamabad on an unmarked executive jet after a decoy jet with Air Force One livery landed first. According to BBC News, the White House informed USA Today reporter Susan Page of those security arrangements in advance.
It remains unclear, per BBC News reporting, what danger, if any, the occupants of the decoy plane carrying Rubio, Bessent, other staff, and the White House press pool faced during the Ankara trip. The White House Correspondent's Association has not made a public statement about the incident.
Trump was transported from Air Force One in a catering truck to a separate military aircraft while Rubio and Bessent remained on the decoy plane to maintain the presidential line of succession.
The scope of the Iranian threat that prompted the operation and whether that threat materially extended to the decoy aircraft remain unaddressed. The decision to keep senior cabinet members and an unaware press corps on a stationary decoy plane as a succession safeguard raises questions about whether the operational security calculation matched the severity of the assessed threat.
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