"I changed planes, I did what the Secret Service told me" - Donald Trump confirms secret operation after Iranian threat

2026-08-12 11:39:50Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

"I changed planes, I did what the Secret Service told me" - Donald

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he secretly changed planes while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey last month, due to a possible threat.

"I choose the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to travel on a different flight, a different plane," Trump told reporters. "I just have to do what they say."

The revelation comes after reports that Trump boarded Air Force One on July 8, in front of television cameras, before being secretly transported to a military plane with the help of a food truck.

The last-minute change has raised questions about whether those left on the rogue plane were in danger. However, Trump insisted on Tuesday that the military plane he boarded was in "greater danger."

Officials told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane. The New York Times reported that US intelligence had information about a person near the NATO summit who had been seen with a missile slung from his shoulder.

Journalists and some White House staffers on board were unaware that the US president had been removed from the plane as part of an elaborate hoax in response to a potential Iranian threat.

Trump had previously said he was Iran's "number one target" during the summit in Ankara.

“I think there was a threat out there,” the president said during a visit aboard Air Force One at an event in Ohio on Tuesday. “I didn’t ask a lot about it. I get a lot of threats.”

He added: "I have many threats that you are not aware of."

The clandestine maneuver last month came a day after the US resumed military strikes on Iran, following a failure of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war.

Trump had arrived in Turkey on a newer Boeing 747-8, donated by Qatar, but announced that he would depart on the older Air Force One "for old times' sake."


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