Trump Says Secret Service Told Him to Sneakily Ditch Press Corps and Staffers in Turkey: ‘I Just Have to Do What They Say’

The president boarded Air Force One when leaving Turkey last month, before secretly being transported to a smaller C-32A aircraft via an airport catering truck while staff and journalists stayed on the decoy plane

NEED TO KNOW

• Donald Trump has said the “Secret Service and the military” were behind his plans to covertly switch planes when flying out of Turkey last month, citing a security threat
• When departing the Turkish capital, Ankara, on July 8, the president first boarded Air Force One to throw the public off, then was sneakily transported to a smaller, unmarked C-32A aircraft via an airport catering truck
• It was previously reported that the plane switch happened after U.S. intelligence officers flagged a potential assassination threat from Iran amid ongoing conflict between the two countries

President Donald Trump has confirmed that he switched planes when flying out of Turkey last month due to a security threat.

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, Aug. 11, the president, 80, explained that the “Secret Service and the military” made the decision to change his travel arrangements, outlets including NBC News and the BBC reported.

“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump said. “I just have to do what they say.”

“I guess there was a threat out there,” he added, per the BBC. “I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about.”

When leaving Turkey’s capital, Ankara, on July 8, Trump first boarded the old Air Force One aircraft in view of television cameras, before being covertly brought to a smaller unmarked C-32A aircraft inside an airport catering truck.

He was in the city for the 2026 NATO Summit alongside other world leaders.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately, using external stairs, seemingly in a bid not to draw attention to the flight, The Washington Post reported.

Other senior White House staff members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, remained on the original plane, per NBC News.

The Washington Post first reported the ruse, explaining that journalists and even some of Trump’s staff believed he was traveling via Air Force One and did not know that their plane was being used as a decoy.

Despite the president acting on advice from the Secret Service and the military, he went on to insist to the press corps that “the plane that I flew on was at greater risk” than the Air Force One, per NBC News.

“I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” Trump continued on Tuesday, according to NBC News, without explaining why he felt the C-32A may have been a target.

It was previously reported that the plan to switch the plane came after U.S. intelligence officers flagged a potential assassination threat from Iran amid ongoing conflict between the two countries.

Trump said he was “not surprised” there had been a threat, and said he “didn’t really ask so much” about it, per NBC News.

“Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Nonconsequential presidents don’t get threatened, and I think that I may be the most consequential president,” he said, according to the outlet.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has led calls for Congress to be briefed on the decoy operation.

The veteran Democrat urged the White House to provide a full account of the mission in a post on X on Tuesday.

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“The Senate should be immediately briefed on the Iranian threats against the President, the extraordinary measures taken to get him out of Turkey, any risks posed to U.S. personnel, and any threat to the homeland,” Schumer, 75, wrote.

“It is unacceptable that Congress was kept in the dark and instead learned about this serious threat through press reports … Republicans cannot keep prioritizing Trump’s luxury and vanity over America’s security,” he insisted.

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