U.S. President Donald Trump says he secretly changed aircraft while flying out of Turkey last month, acknowledging a security-linked “greater risk” involving the plane he ultimately took. The disclosure follows a U.S. media report that the switch was not publicly explained by the White House.
According to multiple outlets, Trump confirmed the report and stated that journalists who departed on the original Air Force One were upset at having unknowingly been used as decoys. Trump argues that, despite using a different plane, the aircraft he ultimately flew on posed the higher vulnerability because it was the one attackers would be more likely to target. In the accounts, the Secret Service directs the change and it is tied to concerns about an assassination plot, described as an Iranian threat.
Outlets also differ in how they frame the controversy and its logistics: some focus on the use of decoy travel and the reaction from reporters, while others emphasize the extraordinary method of transferring Trump to the alternate aircraft. Across coverage, the central point is that the plane swap remained undisclosed for weeks and became public only after reporting by major U.S. media.
