President Donald Trump utilized a decoy aircraft to depart Turkey following a NATO summit last month, according to reports from CBS News. While the president secretly boarded a military plane, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained on the original aircraft, which continued to use the "Air Force One" call sign. The maneuver was reportedly executed due to security concerns involving Iran.
The event took place on July 8 in Ankara. After initially boarding the primary presidential aircraft with cabinet members and the press, Trump reportedly hid inside a catering truck to be transported to a second flight. The military and Secret Service directed the deception, according to statements made by Trump on Monday night. The New York Times reported that officials cited the presence of a person with a portable surface-to-air missile near the conference as the reason for the change.
On the decoy flight, Rubio and Bessent were joined by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Communications Director Steven Cheung. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Director of Oval Office Operations Walt Nauta accompanied the president on the second aircraft. Trump stated he was not provided with specific details of the threat but noted that the military "wanted me to go in a different flight."
The scale of the operation included two separate aircraft, a catering truck for clandestine transport, and dozens of personnel, including cabinet members, military staff, and the White House press pool. While the Secret Service frequently uses "shell games" such as identical armored limousines or helicopters to obscure the president's location, members of the press pool reported they were not informed they were on a decoy flight. This lack of notification has prompted the White House Correspondents’ Association to seek new protocols for maintaining independent coverage during extraordinary security events.
The incident highlights the ongoing security protocols managed by the Secret Service and the U.S. military for high-risk international travel. Similar methods were used in March 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton used an unmarked jet to land in Pakistan while a decoy Air Force One was utilized. Currently, it is not known what level of risk was faced by the staff and journalists who remained on the decoy plane in Turkey. The White House has not yet provided an official comment, but press association president Jacqui Heinrich met with administration officials to discuss the impact on the historical record of presidential movements.