Two members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, remained on a decoy aircraft believed to be Air Force One during the president's secret departure from Turkey last month. Trump exited his initial flight on July 8, using a catering truck to transfer to a different military plane to evade a potential threat from Iran.
The designation "Air Force One" applies to any plane carrying the president, but the original aircraft maintained the call signal to serve as a decoy. Rubio and Bessent stayed aboard the first plane to preserve the line of presidential succession in case of an incident involving Trump.
In the established line of succession, the Vice-President is followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of State is next in line, followed by the Treasury Secretary. Other officials who remained on the decoy aircraft included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.
The covert departure occurred during a NATO summit in Turkey, prompted by security concerns related to Iran. The White House has been contacted for comment.