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US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he was secretly moved to a different aircraft after the NATO Summit in Turkey, amid a "credible Iranian assassination threat", saying he followed instructions from the Secret Service and the US military without asking for details about the threat.
The Washington Post reported that Trump, 80, was secretly flown out of Turkey aboard a smaller US military aircraft, while the familiar Air Force One was used as a decoy to conceal his actual location. To make the flight switch, he was transported across the airport in a catering truck.
Asked about the flight change, Trump said he had not sought details about the specific threat and had simply followed instructions from his security team.
"I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane... I do what they say... I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats."
However, the US President said the plane he flew on after he secretly took the military flight was "at greater risk".
"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," he added.
Trump also sought to downplay concerns over his personal safety, saying threats against a US President were not unusual.
"I have a lot of threats that you don't know about. Any consequential President has a lot of threats. Non-consequential Presidents don't get threatened and I think that I'm maybe the most consequential President."
He added that he was not particularly concerned about the risks, saying, "I don't worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is, you know my attitude? Whatever."
Trump's secret flight switching took place when the US President attended the NATO summit in Ankara in July after a "credible assassination threat" by Iran, the Washington Post reported. He had arrived in Turkey aboard a Boeing 747-8 aircraft donated by Qatar, but concerns had been raised about the aircraft's defensive capabilities compared with the older Air Force One jets.
According to reports, US officials received intelligence indicating a potential Iranian threat targeting Trump or his aircraft. The Secret Service subsequently decided that Trump should not make the return journey on the aircraft he had arrived in.
Instead, Trump was reportedly moved from the aircraft to a smaller Air Force C-32A military jet. The transfer was carried out covertly, with Trump reportedly travelling inside an airport catering vehicle to avoid revealing that he had left the original aircraft.
The original Air Force One aircraft then served as a decoy. Journalists and a number of White House personnel remained aboard it, believing that Trump was travelling with them, while the President had already departed on the alternate aircraft.
The operation was reportedly intended to make it difficult for anyone seeking to target Trump to determine his actual location or aircraft.
The threat emerged against the backdrop of the ongoing US-Iran war and heightened concerns over Iranian retaliation against senior American officials. US and Israeli intelligence agencies had reportedly warned about possible threats to Trump, including the possibility of an attack against his aircraft.
The Secret Service has not publicly disclosed the precise nature of the intelligence that prompted the aircraft switch. Reports have described the threat as serious enough to trigger extraordinary protective measures, although there was no reported attack on Trump's aircraft.
The reports have also raised questions over the decision to keep journalists and some staff members aboard the decoy aircraft unaware of the threat. Critics have argued that the operation, while designed to protect the President, also placed people on the aircraft in a potentially vulnerable position without informing them of the underlying security concern.
Trump, however, appeared to dismiss the broader concern, framing threats against him as a consequence of his position and political impact while saying he trusted the Secret Service and military to determine how he should travel.
