CNN hyperventilated over the Secret Service’s decision to move President Trump to an alternate plane when he departed Ankara, Turkey last month.
President Trump took a secret flight from Turkey to the UK on an alternate military aircraft on July 8 after he was quietly moved from Air Force One due to an Iranian threat.
The US reportedly knew of a shoulder-fired missile threat against Air Force One and secretly moved the president to a smaller plane.
According to a leak to The Washington Post, Air Force One was used as a ‘decoy’ while President Trump flew on a smaller C-32A plane. Pool reporters thought they were flying with President Trump from Turkey to the UK.
White House communications director Steven Cheung said:
“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff. As the President has said recently, there are many enemies…
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 10, 2026
However, President Trump was quietly moved from Air Force One to the smaller plane by jumping into an airport catering truck.
How did this happen? We’re told Trump boarded the legacy Air Force One in Turkey.
But moments later, he secretly moved from that jet to a smaller C-32A that was parked nearby. He moved from one jet to the next aboard an airport catering truck, out of sight from the media.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 10, 2026
President Trump on Tuesday evening confirmed he secretly switched planes last month as he departed Ankara, Turkey.
Trump stopped to talk to reporters after he returned to DC from attending the Patriot Games final in Ohio.
A reporter asked President Trump about a leak to the Washington Post that revealed he secretly switched planes as he departed Turkey for the UK and used Air Force One as a ‘decoy.’
“It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do. So, I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” Trump said.
“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” Trump said.
CNN crowed over President Trump’s plane switch (Bill Clinton used a similar plane swap maneuver in 2000).
“If it was not safe for the president to be on that flight, how was it safe for the media to be on that flight? And to be lied to,” a CNN guest said.
“Someone needs to tell me why that is a legal order,” she said.
In another segment, CNN claimed the reporters on Air Force One were “decoys” and “unwitting targets.”
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