Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were on a decoy flight last month when President Donald Trump secretly took a different plane from the publicly identified Air Force One aircraft during the NATO summit, according to sources familiar with the situation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on the secret flight with Trump.

Several White House aides, including Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, Will Scharf, Steven Cheung, Mike Needham, Ross Worthington, and Monica Crowley, were on the decoy flight. Rubio and Bessent, who maintained the line of succession, were aware that the president was on another plane.

Trump announced he would leave Ankara on the older Air Force One rather than the newer Qatari-donated jet he had taken to the summit. He said he was switching planes "for old time's sake," and that U.S. forces at a British refueling stop would be able to inspect the new plane. However, CBS News reported that the Secret Service advised Trump to take the older plane for security reasons.

When asked why it was too dangerous for him to fly on Air Force One but not for members of the press, Trump responded, "I think, actually, the plane that I flew on was at greater risk." He also noted that "any consequential president has a lot of threats" and attributed the security concerns to "the sleazebags that we have to deal with."

Several minutes after the switch, a catering truck pulled away and drove to another U.S. government plane, which The Washington Post reported was an Air Force C-32A.

Sources