Gambiaj.com – (WASHINGTON, United States) – President Trump departed the NATO summit in Turkey last month aboard an alternate aircraft at the behest of the Secret Service amid what intelligence officials said was a credible assassination threat from Iran.
The Washington Post first reported Monday that Trump hid aboard a catering truck, which typically carries meals and other supplies preflight, that moved the president from an old Air Force One jumbo jet to an Air Force C-32A plane. The ruse was carried out with Cabinet members, some White House staff, and reporters aboard the old Air Force One.
Trump has defended the switch, but any potential risk to those left on the decoy plane has led lawmakers to raise questions about the scheme.
What prompted it?
The National Security Agency, the CIA, and Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization learned of a credible plot to launch a surface-to-air missile at Air Force One, two U.S. officials told CBS News.
The Israeli government also relayed information about a potential threat to Trump’s life to the CIA, the Post reported. Two unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, however, told the outlet that analysts saw the threat as “Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence.”
Officials had little time to prepare a plan at the last minute after becoming aware of a possible threat to Trump’s life on the last day of his trip to Ankara, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.
“They were scrambling to head off what they thought was a credible, imminent threat,” the person said.
Who was on which plane?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with White House aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino, flew with Trump in the smaller Air Force plane.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were aboard the older Air Force One jet. Rubio was aware of the switch and the potential threat against Trump, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and White House communications director Steven Cheung were also aboard the older plane.
The two Cabinet members are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the presidential line of succession.
Other White House staffers and about a dozen reporters were also on the old plane. The ruse drew outrage from one reporter who told the Post that part of the job for those working at the White House is to “defend the president.”
“That’s not my job,” the reporter said. “I cover the president. Reporters take risks as part of the job but not on behalf of the president.”
How was it carried out?
On July 8, Trump told reporters before leaving Ankara that he would depart in the older Air Force. One instead of the Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 jet amid threats from Iran, while also noting the newer plane was going to be shown off at an air base in the U.K. The president was later seen boarding the older plane in view of reporters and news cameras, with reporters boarding through the rear.
The New York Times noted, based on video taken of the president’s departure, that the window shades of the plane were down as Trump boarded. The catering container is visible behind a flatbed truck about 30 seconds later, before the truck drives to the Air Force C-32A. The container disappears about another 30 seconds later.
A second catering container was seen driving away after it was spotted near the rear of the old Air Force One. It did not appear to interact with the C-32A.
The Times did not have a continuous shot of the switcheroo, as the camera would pan away before panning back.
All three planes, including the Qatari Air Force One, departed and landed at the Mildenhall military base in England. The new jet landed at 6:26 p.m. local time, followed by the C-32A landing at 10:20 p.m. and the old Air Force One landing nine minutes later.
The president was then secretly moved to the old Air Force One, with a U.S. official telling the Times that Trump was taken by vehicle from the C-32A to the old Air Force One, boarded through a different entrance, and then disembarked as he normally would. He then boarded the Qatari Air Force One and flew back to Washington, D.C.
What has Trump said about it?
Trump told reporters Tuesday that the diversion was at the behest of the Secret Service, which he said wanted him to board a different plane.
He said that he guessed “there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.” Trump suggested that the plane he flew on was “at greater risk.” But he said he was never worried during the incident.
“I don’t worry about anything, to be honest,” Trump added. “Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever.”
What did lawmakers say about it?
Democrats fumed over the ruse, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday demanding that Trump brief members of Congress about the scheme. He called the ploy “unacceptable” and accused the Trump administration of leaving Congress “in the dark.”
“Trump has put America’s sons and daughters in harm’s way by getting into an unnecessary and reckless war, and this administration has repeatedly refused to provide Congress and the public with the transparency they deserve,” Schumer wrote on the social platform X.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Thursday that the switch was “a despicable incident of disrespect for the press and for members of his own Cabinet.”
“If you were Secretary Rubio or Secretary Bessent or Miller, how do they feel about having been left as decoys?” Coons asked.
Other Democrats also bemoaned the ruse, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) telling CNN that the circumstances of the ruse were “downright scary.”
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