WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has confirmed he was secretly moved off Air Force One in Turkey last month because of security threats, after journalists discovered they had been left on the presidential plane as unwitting decoys.

“They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane – equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it.”

Hidden in a catering truck

The Washington Post revealed on Monday that Trump had been smuggled out of Air Force One on 8 July while the aircraft was on the ground in Turkey.

The president boarded the plane in full view of cameras before stepping into a cargo container and being moved to a smaller US Air Force aircraft nearby. About a dozen journalists travelling separately on Air Force One flew out of Turkey unaware of the switch.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had briefed the US about a possible shoulder-to-air missile strike on the presidential plane. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among senior officials who remained on board.

Window shades and warnings

Journalists on the flight noted that the Secret Service ordered window shades to be lowered during takeoff – an unusual instruction outside combat zones.

Trump later told reporters: “If I go, you go. Right?”

The president dismissed concerns about the threats, saying: “Any consequential president has a lot of threats. I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is, you know my attitude: ‘Whatever.’”

Trump suggested the plane he actually used might have been at greater risk than Air Force One.

Qatar plane lacking security systems

The confusion began when Trump arrived at the NATO summit on a luxury Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar and retrofitted for presidential use. The plane reportedly lacked anti-missile security systems, prompting officials to bring in the traditional Air Force One.

Trump claimed at the time the new plane was being sent ahead for US troops in Britain to tour.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Tuesday for Congress to be briefed “on the Iranian threats against the president, the extraordinary measures taken to get him out of Turkey.”

The incident recalls similar security measures from previous administrations. Bill Clinton switched planes at the last minute in 2000 while travelling from India to Pakistan, using a decoy aircraft. Joe Biden’s 2023 visit to Ukraine was also shrouded in strict secrecy.

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