Donald Trump has admitted that he secretly switched planes while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey last month because of a potential threat.

The US president told reporters that he had followed instructions from the Secret Service and the military. “I go with the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to travel on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump said, adding: “I just have to do what they say.”

The confirmation follows reports that on July 8, Trump boarded Air Force One in front of television cameras before being secretly transferred to a military aircraft with the help of a catering truck.

Reporters and several White House staff members on board were unaware that the US president had left the aircraft. The move was part of an elaborate deception operation carried out in response to the potential Iranian threat.

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

US officials told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that the United States had identified a credible Iranian threat to strike the aircraft with a missile. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that US intelligence services had information about a person near the NATO summit who had been seen carrying a shoulder-fired missile.

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

“I think there was a threat out there,” he said on Tuesday during a visit aboard Air Force One as part of an event in Ohio. The president continued: “I didn’t ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”

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

Last month’s covert operation took place one day after the US had resumed military strikes against Iran. The attacks followed the failure of talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the war.

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

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