By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-12 20:42:45 | Updated at 2026-08-12 23:49:55
5 hours ago
As Donald Trump prepared to leave the NATO summit in Turkey last month, security officials approached him with new details surrounding concerns about his personal safety.
Overnight intelligence from United States operatives revealed that someone in the vicinity had been spotted with a shoulder-fired missile that could potentially take down the President’s plane, NBC News reported.
Intelligence officials also detailed that Iran knew which floor of the hotel Trump was staying at during the summit in Ankara.
Secret Service and the President’s military advisers concluded that the safest way to elude the potential threat would be to scramble Trump's presumed location.
The new Air Force One, donated to the United States by Qatar, was sent to the base early without Trump as staff prepared the older plane for departure.
The misdirection for the sake of security was successfully executed after the President boarded the older blue-and-white plane and was secretly smuggled out minutes later via a catering truck to a different Boeing C-32A military jet.
Trump traveled on the military plane with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his close aides Natalie Harp and advance aide Walt Nauta.
Deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino also joined them, according to reports.
Donald Trump boarding the old Air Force One plane set to transport him to a US military base in the UK as cameras rolled at an airport in Ankara on July 8
A catering truck was visibly parked on the opposite side of Air Force One after the President boarded the plane in Turkey last month
Secretary of State Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled on the decoy flight with aides Stephen Miller, Will Scharf, Steven Cheung, Mike Needham, Ross Worthington and Monica Crowley.
Both Rubio and Bessent were aware of the secret misdirection plan to secure the President, according to CBS, but it remained unclear what other aides knew of the details.
The decoy Air Force One left the airport in Turkey first, followed by the secret plane carrying Trump.
Arriving at the Mildenhall military base, the Boeing C-32A landed first, according to reports citing flight monitoring message boards.
Trump was quietly transported under cover back to the decoy plane, where he exited in front of media cameras as expected.
The President and his staff then boarded the new Air Force One, donated by Qatar for the flight back to Washington, DC.
After the successful decoy, Trump denied any concerns to reporters who asked him about a potential security threat.
'No, no,' Trump replied. 'No issues.'
Trump had flown to Turkey on a Qatari-donated Air Force One jet before switching back to his older model for the journey home
Trump covertly entered the food cart that had been fitted to the belly of the plane amid threats from Iranian officials
Detailed knowledge of the secret decoy flight, first reported by the Washington Post, created a firestorm in the media, which was not told about the President's secret plan.
Trump reacted to the news on Tuesday evening, telling reporters that he was only following the advice of the Secret Service.
'I just follow what they'd like me to do,' he said. 'They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, so I do it. I do what they say.'
When asked if he was worried about a missile taking out either plane, he replied, 'I don't worry about anything, to be honest. You know my attitude? Whatever.'
