Trump says his decoy plane faced ‘greater risk’ in secret flight change

play Live Sign upShow navigation menuNavigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedSportOpinionVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelSponsored Contentplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upNavigation menucaret-leftDonald TrumpTrump, Netanyahu and the Iran questionHow Iran war fallout may shape US electionsA visual guide to redistrictingcaret-rightNews|Donald TrumpTrump says his decoy plane faced ‘greater risk’ in secret flight changeThe swap, which happened after the NATO summit on July 8, wasn’t disclosed until this week. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoPresident Donald Trump steps off Air Force One to board his new Qatari-gifted Boeing plane, en route to the US [File: Win McNamee/Getty Images]By ReutersPublished On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that he secretly swapped planes due to a potential assassination threat from Iran during a NATO summit in Turkiye last month, and that he actually faced a “greater risk” on the decoy plane. “I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane,” Trump told reporters. “I just have to do what they say.” “I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” he added. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.” The switch, which happened on July 8, involved the president being moved between aircraft in a catering truck and onto a military plane in Ankara, according to US media reports. The White House said nothing publicly at the time, and the cover appears to have held until The Washington Post broke the story this week. The Air Force One aircraft was still carrying journalists and top aides, who remained at apparent risk of an Iranian strike and did not know the president had left, when Trump exited the presidential plane. Advertisement AboutAboutShow moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: