Trump's cabinet members stayed aboard decoy plane after president's secret exit

Two members of US President Donald Trump's cabinet were aboard a decoy plane that Trump secretly exited before boarding a different aircraft in Turkey last month, CBS News reports.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained aboard what was believed to be Air Force One and did not join a flight arranged for Trump amid security concerns involving Iran, reports BBC.

After Trump boarded Air Force One on 8 July with both officials and members of the press, he concealed himself on a catering truck to be discreetly transported to a military aircraft.

The designation "Air Force One" applies to any aircraft carrying the president, but in this case, the original aircraft retained the call sign, effectively becoming a decoy.

According to CBS, the BBC's US partner, Rubio and Bessent remained aboard the first aircraft to preserve the line of succession in the event that anything happened to Trump.

In the event that the president dies or becomes incapacitated, Vice-President JD Vance would assume the presidency, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of State comes next in the line of succession, followed by the Treasury Secretary.

Others who remained aboard the initial aircraft designated as Air Force One included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.

The second aircraft that transported President Trump from Ankara also carried Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to US media reports. Trump was also accompanied by his executive assistant Natalie Harp, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Walt Nauta, director of Oval Office operations.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Trump said the decision to use the deception was made by the US military and the Secret Service, who "wanted me to go in a different flight".

The nature of the security threat remains unclear, with Trump providing no specifics and saying only that he receives "a lot of threats".

"Any consequential president has a lot of threats," he added.

The threat was reportedly related to a shoulder-mounted missile launcher, according to multiple US outlets, as well as concerns that Iranian authorities were aware of Trump's whereabouts, including the floor of the hotel where he was staying.

According to The New York Times, citing unnamed officials, someone had been spotted carrying a portable surface-to-air missile near the NATO conference in the Turkish capital.

It remains unclear what the cabinet secretaries and other officials, as well as the Air Force personnel working on the aircraft, knew about the operation. Members of the press have said they were unaware that they were travelling on a decoy flight.

Various forms of deception, often referred to as "shell games" by Secret Service personnel, are common. Identical versions of the president's heavily armoured limousine, for example, often change positions within motorcades, as do helicopters transporting the president.

More elaborate operations often take place during high-risk overseas trips. In such cases, reporters aboard Air Force One are typically briefed and asked not to report the president's movements in real time.

In March 2000, for example, then-President Bill Clinton travelled to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on an unmarked executive jet that landed after a decoy aircraft bearing Air Force One livery.

Ahead of the trip, the White House informed USA Today reporter Susan Page, then head of the White House Correspondents' Association, about the security arrangements.

"They told me about the extraordinary security procedures being taken because of the dangers flying there, including the use of the decoy plane," Page revealed for the first time this week.

"Of course, the dangers threatened the journalists covering the trip as well as President Clinton," she said in an interview with The Washington Post.

It is also unclear what, if any, danger the occupants of the aircraft carrying Rubio, Bessent, other staff and the White House press pool faced during the Ankara trip.

The White House Correspondents' Association has not publicly commented on the incident. However, association president Jacqui Heinrich said in an internal memo to the press corps that she had met with Trump administration officials regarding the matter.

She said she "advocated strongly for the importance of maintaining independent press coverage of the president and an accurate historical record of his movements".

Heinrich asked the White House to work with the association on a protocol for handling extraordinary security circumstances in the future.