President Donald Trump has confirmed he secretly swapped aircraft while leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last month, after U.S. intelligence flagged a credible threat from Iran. Speaking to reporters this week, Trump said the decision to change planes was not his own, explaining that the Secret Service and the military wanted him on a different flight for safety reasons.

The maneuver unfolded on the final day of the NATO gathering in Ankara. Trump walked up the stairs of the older, iconic blue Air Force One in full view of cameras, waved to the press, and disappeared inside — only to be quietly moved out through a catering container on the opposite side of the aircraft. From there, he was taken to a third plane, reportedly a military variant of the Boeing 757 known as the C-32A, which flew him secretly to Britain while the decoy jet, packed with journalists, aides and White House staff, took off as planned.

According to U.S. officials, intelligence agencies had picked up multiple signals overnight indicating that Iran knew precisely where Trump was staying, down to the floor of his hotel, and that someone near the summit venue had been spotted carrying a shoulder-fired missile. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was central to assessing the threat and orchestrating the response, drawing on his experience devising diversion tactics during last year's U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Not everyone aboard the decoy aircraft was left in the dark. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly knew of the threat and helped plan the operation before boarding the older plane himself, while other senior officials — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, communications director Steven Cheung and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller — were also on board, though it remains unclear whether all of them were briefed. Journalists traveling on the flight, along with several White House staffers, were reportedly unaware the president was no longer on the plane.

The episode has raised questions about the risks faced by those left on the decoy jet. Trump addressed this directly on Tuesday, suggesting the aircraft he originally boarded may in fact have carried the greater exposure, since it would likely have been the target attackers were watching most closely. He also acknowledged being informed of a threat before departure but said he hadn't pressed for details, noting that threats against him are frequent.

The clandestine switch came just a day after the United States resumed military strikes against Iran, following the collapse of talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending hostilities. Before leaving Turkey, Trump had told reporters that Iran remained his top target. He had arrived at the summit aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar, but announced he would fly out on the older Air Force One instead, for what he called old time's sake.

The full sequence of events was first detailed by The Washington Post and later corroborated by The New York Times, which traced the operation through flight tracking data and interviews with officials familiar with the planning.