Security officials presented then-President Donald Trump with alarming intelligence shortly before his departure from the NATO summit in Turkey in July, revealing concerns for his personal safety.
Overnight intelligence gathered by U.S. operatives indicated the presence of a shoulder-fired missile in the vicinity of the summit, posing a potential threat to the presidential aircraft, according to NBC News.
Intelligence officials also reportedly learned that Iran possessed knowledge of the floor Trump was occupying at his hotel in Ankara, Turkey.
In response to these threats, the Secret Service and Trump's military advisors devised a plan to obscure his movements. Trump announced on social media that he would be flying on the older Air Force One for the journey to the Mildenhall military base in the United Kingdom, a decision he attributed to nostalgia.
In parallel, the newer Air Force One, a donation from Qatar, was dispatched to the base in advance of the president's arrival. The objective was to create a diversion.
The security maneuver involved Trump boarding the older, blue-and-white Air Force One. Minutes later, he was reportedly escorted via a catering truck to a different aircraft, a Boeing C-32A military jet. Trump traveled on this military plane accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino.
Secretary of State Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with aides Stephen Miller, Will Scharf, Steven Cheung, Mike Needham, Ross Worthington, and Monica Crowley, were on the decoy flight. Both Rubio and Bessent were aware of the plan, according to CBS reports, though the extent of other aides' knowledge remains unclear.
The decoy Air Force One departed Turkey first, followed by the secret flight carrying the president. Upon arrival at Mildenhall, the Boeing C-32A carrying Trump landed first, ahead of the decoy plane, according to flight monitoring reports.
Trump was then reportedly transported discreetly under cover back to the decoy plane. He disembarked in front of news cameras as expected, before boarding the Qatari-donated Air Force One for the final leg of the journey back to Washington, D.C.
Following the successful execution of the decoy operation, Trump dismissed concerns about his safety when questioned by reporters. "No, no," he stated. "No issues."
When asked about potential worries regarding a missile threat, he responded, "I don't worry about anything, to be honest. You know my attitude? Whatever."
News of the elaborate decoy flight, initially reported by The Washington Post, generated significant media attention, as the press was not informed of the secret plan. Trump later told reporters that he was following the advice of the Secret Service, stating, "I just follow what they'd like me to do. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, so I do it. I do what they say."