Trump confirms switch from Air Force One in Türkiye over threat

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he was moved off Air Force One during a July trip to Türkiye after the military and Secret Service determined that he should board a “different plane” because of a security threat.

His comments confirmed a report by The Washington Post that Trump, following a NATO summit last month, was secretly transferred to another aircraft because of a credible threat from Iran.

The operation was kept secret for weeks until the newspaper reported it.

Trump downplayed the extraordinary nature of the operation, which, according to the report, involved him being hidden in an airport catering vehicle and taken to another aircraft while Air Force One took off, effectively serving as a decoy.

“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters after returning from an event in Ohio, saying he had little choice in the matter, Euronews reported.

“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” he said. “I get a lot of threats.”

He also downplayed the risk to the people—including White House officials, security and support staff, and reporters—who remained aboard Air Force One.

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump said, without providing many details about the operation. He added that the incident did not frighten him.

“I don’t worry about anything, to be honest,” Trump said. “Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever!”

Details about what happened remain unclear.

Trump’s flight out of Türkiye made headlines at the time because he had arrived aboard a luxury jet gifted by Qatar that lacked some of the missile-detection and countermeasure systems found on older presidential aircraft.

Reports now indicate that Trump was hidden in an airport catering vehicle and transported on a smaller government aircraft from Türkiye to the United Kingdom, before later returning undetected to the Qatari-gifted presidential plane.