US President Donald Trump has admitted that he was secretly moved to a different aircraft when leaving Turkey last month after American security officials were given a credible assassination threat linked to Iran.
Trump said he followed the instructions of the US Secret Service and military officials without any real information about the threat. The unusual security operation involved moving him from the presidential aircraft to a smaller US military jet while the original Air Force One continued its journey.
The surprising fact has drawn attention because the aircraft switch was reportedly done covertly and journalists and some White House personnel believed Trump would continue his journey aboard the presidential plane.
Trump confirms that there has been a secret plane change
Trump’s comments came a day after a report by The Washington Post detailed the unusual security operation during his departure from Ankara.
Trump had taken an older Air Force One in Ankara on July 8 after his NATO summit. They moved him away from the presidential plane through an airport catering truck and on to a smaller U.S. military aircraft, a C-32A, the report says.
The original presidential aircraft had continued its journey, and it was effectively a decoy.
Now Trump has confirmed that the aircraft change took place and said he simply followed instructions from the Secret Service and military officials.
“I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters.
He said that the decision was part of a bigger security protocol based on intelligence that a threat might have been detected.
Trump says his aircraft may have been at greater risk
Trump also offered a very peculiar assessment of the security operation, saying that he believed the aircraft he ultimately traveled on could have been at greater risk.
According to Trump, an attacker would have been more likely to attack the presidential aircraft because it was identifiable as the plane carrying the US President.
"I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump said, suggesting that the aircraft initially associated with his departure could have been considered the more obvious target.
The aircraft swap therefore seems to have been intended to make it more difficult for anyone attempting to track or target the President's movements.
Iran-Linked Threat Reportedly Triggered Security Measures
The security concern was linked to Iran, the Washington Post reported. US intelligence officials were said to have identified a credible assassination threat involving Trump.
The report comes amid longstanding tensions between Trump and Iran. In his previous presidency, the US conducted the 2020 strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Iranian officials threatened retaliation, and US authorities have continued to take threats against senior American officials seriously.
The most recent incident speaks to the extent to which security authorities can alter presidential travel plans without public disclosure when they believe there is a credible threat.
Trump says he’s facing numerous threats
Trump also spoke of the broader security risks of being the US President.
He says he receives many threats that the public may not know about and argued that highly consequential presidents naturally attract threats.
"I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about,” Trump said, adding that any consequential president faces significant threats.
Trump said he was not concerned about the danger of an attack despite the security precautions that his travel would bring on his trip.
“I don’t worry about anything, to be honest,” he said, describing his attitude as accepting whatever happens.
What does the aircraft swap mean?
The reported operation shows the complex security arrangements surrounding presidential travel. Air Force One is one of the most recognizable symbols of the US presidency, and it is relatively easy to identify when the President is travelling.
Changing Trump to a military aircraft and leaving the presidential aircraft off to continue its journey would have complicated any effort to locate and follow his exact location and travel course.
The incident also underscores the role of the US Secret Service and military forces to make last-minute changes to presidential movements. And those decisions can be made without the President being given every single detail of every decision-making detail, if intelligence agencies believe that a threat might be credible.
And now Trump’s confirmation gives public acknowledgment of an operation that had long been hidden. And it also brings back to mind how sensitive the US President is to the security threats he faces as Washington and Tehran continue to clash.
