Trump Acknowledges Secret Plane Switch After NATO Summit in Turkey: I Follow Instructions, I Face Threats You Don’t Know About

Donald Trump confirmed that, while leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last month, he was secretly transferred to another plane because of a potential threat against him.

The US president told reporters that he follows the decisions of the Secret Service and the military. According to Trump, those agencies asked him to travel on a different flight and aircraft, so he had to follow their instructions.

“I think there was a threat out there,” Trump said Tuesday during an event in Ohio while touring Air Force One. He said he had not asked for many details because he receives numerous threats.

“I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about,” the president added.

The confirmation followed reports that, on July 8, Trump appeared before television cameras boarding Air Force One, but was later secretly taken off the plane and transported to a military aircraft with the help of a catering truck.

The last-minute decision raised questions over whether those who remained on the aircraft used as a decoy had been exposed to danger. Trump insisted Tuesday that the military plane to which he was transferred was at “greater risk.”

Officials cited by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, said the United States had identified a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the aircraft. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that US intelligence had information about a person near the site of the NATO summit who had been seen with a shoulder-fired missile.

Journalists and several White House staff members on board had not been informed that the president had left the plane. The move was part of an elaborate deception operation carried out in response to the potential threat from Iran.

During the summit in Ankara, Trump had earlier said that he was Iran’s “number one target.”

The covert operation was carried out one day after the United States resumed military strikes against Iran. Military action restarted after negotiations between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the war failed.

To travel to Turkey, Trump had used a newer Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar. However, he announced that he would leave aboard the old Air Force One “for old times’ sake.”

Footage recorded on July 8 showed the president boarding the presidential aircraft at Ankara airport.

According to The Washington Post, after boarding Air Force One, Trump exited it again and entered a catering truck. The vehicle had been raised to the height of the aircraft on the opposite side from where the president had been seen entering.

He was then transported unnoticed in the truck to a smaller C-32A military aircraft. The aircraft is a modified Boeing 757 often used by the vice president.

The newspaper reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately, using the external stairs. The move was intended to make the flight appear routine.

At the same time, journalists and several members of the White House staff were seated aboard Air Force One. According to reports, they were asked to keep the window shades closed, unaware that the president was no longer on board.

A media producer traveling on the plane said the request to keep the shades lowered seemed unusual. When a photographer briefly opened one of them, the photographer was reportedly immediately told to close it.

The producer’s statements were included in a report published Tuesday by the White House Correspondents’ Association.

The report also noted that, when the press arrived, there appeared to be two catering trucks near the aircraft, one at the front and another at the rear. The media van had been positioned far back in the motorcade traveling to the airport, so journalists were unable to photograph the president boarding the plane.

Technically, the designation “Air Force One” serves as the call sign for any aircraft carrying the US president.

In this case, however, the C-32A flew under the call sign “Reach 18.” The aircraft carrying the journalists continued to use the identification “AF1” to maintain the deception.

The New York Times reported that members of Trump’s Cabinet also remained on the original aircraft. Citing two anonymous officials, the newspaper said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were on board.

Trump later flew to the United Kingdom on his return journey to the United States. There, he boarded the old Air Force One again and was filmed disembarking after the plane landed at RAF Mildenhall.

It remains unclear how the president was transferred from the C-32A back to the old jet.

For the leg back to Washington, Trump then transferred to the new Air Force One, which had been donated by Qatar.

During that flight, he spoke with reporters on board and discussed threats from Iran, but did not disclose that he had switched planes earlier.

When asked at the time why reporters on the flight from Turkey had been instructed to lower the window shades, Trump replied: “Because maybe you’re on a dangerous flight because of the scum that we have to deal with.”

He also said his life faces a “threat all the time” and that he is “number one” on Iran’s “list.”

Jose Zamora, Americas regional director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the Trump administration “has a responsibility to ensure that journalists covering the president are not unnecessarily exposed to danger.”

He added that journalists should be informed about credible security threats so they can make informed decisions about their own protection.