The New York Times leaked information on how President Trump was secreted out of Turkey over a serious Iranian threat to blow him out of the sky. The Times shouldn’t report these confidential measures. The U.S. carried out a sophisticated ruse to smuggle President Trump out of Turkey during last month’s NATO summit. American officials said security personnel transferred him inside a catering container to a military plane over a threat from Iran against him and Air Force One.
Publicly, Trump and other officials said he would leave Turkey on July 8 aboard one of the older versions of Air Force One, rather than the luxury Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar that he arrived in. Trump told reporters he was switching planes “in memory of the good old days.”
He boarded the older plane through the door on its left side, in full view of the cameras. Media outlets reported he flew it to Britain, where he transferred back to the newer plane. The Times had reported at the time that the decision was partly due to safety concerns over the Qatari-donated jet, which did not have all the security features installed on the older versions.
But instead of taking off on the old 747, Trump was secretly removed from it inside a catering container hoisted to the opposite side of the plane, away from where the journalists who flew with him boarded. He was then transferred to a third plane, on which he secretly flew to Britain.
Reporters are upset that they weren’t told. However, the Secret Service’s mission is only to protect the President. Traveling around with the embattled prsident who faces constant death threats is dangerous, period.
Jake Tapper thinks Secret Service is to protect the media not the President.
You aren’t special Jake. The job of USSS is to protect the President, they have NO obligation to protect you smug morons.
POTUS is priority. Cry about Jake pic.twitter.com/gLGAl3GBHo
— J (@JayTC53) August 11, 2026
Here is more from the article.
Reporters on the older plane were not told that Mr. Trump had not flown with them from Turkey to an air base in Britain, making them unwitting participants in the ruse and leaving them, along with some White House staff members, to serve as unknowing decoys.
After Mr. Trump arrived in Britain, he was secretly moved back to the older version of Air Force One. He then disembarked in view of reporters and walked across the tarmac to the plane donated by Qatar, which he flew to Washington.
The elaborate plan appears to have been developed in a matter of hours after officials determined that a threat against Mr. Trump from Iran was credible. It came after years of threats against Mr. Trump from Iran and amid the war he launched against that country. And it was an unusual instance of the public being deceived about a president’s whereabouts.
