President Donald Trump said a military plane that secretly flew him out of Turkey last month was at greater risk of attack, even though the Secret Service had picked it as the safer option for him, according to Mediaite.
Trump had traveled to the NATO summit in Turkey last month aboard a new Air Force One plane that was a gift from Qatar. When he was set to leave the country, he told people he would fly out on the “former Air Force One.”
That apparently did not happen. Instead, he was quietly moved to a different aircraft while the original plane, with reporters and staff on board, took off as a decoy.
Trump says he follows Secret Service orders on travel plans
According to a Washington Post report published Monday, Trump boarded the “former Air Force One” in front of TV cameras. He was then moved into a catering container, which carried him to an Air Force C-32A.
The plane that reporters and White House staff flew on was allegedly the target, and it served as a decoy in that scenario. The Qatari jet swap already has stirred up its own controversies, with Trump previously complaining that the gifted plane wasn’t the right fit.
President Trump was secretly moved off Air Force One in Turkey last month after the NATO summit with the help of an airport catering truck. When asked why, Trump said the Secret Service directed him to switch to another plane.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2026
“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a… pic.twitter.com/dxrZReipFu
Trump spoke to reporters Tuesday night at Joint Base Andrews and answered questions about why the plane was switched. He said the decision was not his and that he simply followed instructions from the Secret Service:
“It’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do. So, I go by the Secret Service, and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, uh, equal safety. But they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say.”
A reporter then asked why it was too dangerous for Trump to fly on Air Force One but not too dangerous for the press to fly on it. Trump responded by saying he believed his plane was actually more likely to be targeted.
“Well, I don’t know. I think, actually, the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. 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 said.
A reporter followed up by asking if Trump was worried about a shoulder-fired missile. Trump downplayed any personal concern about the threat. “Uh, I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is, you know, my attitude? Whatever,” Trump said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Israeli officials had briefed their American counterparts while Trump was still in Turkey. The Israeli officials reportedly warned of a possible Iranian threat against Trump’s life, specifically a plan to use shoulder-fired missiles to target Air Force One.
Trump and Netanyahu have a history connected to Iran. Back in February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed Trump intelligence suggesting that Iran’s government could be toppled if the United States launched a large-scale bombing campaign against the country, according to a report from The New York Times.
Trump moved forward with that bombing campaign on February 28, with help from Israel. The war between the two sides has continued since then, and the administration is exploring new ways to squeeze Iran beyond military action alone.
