Trump confirms he changed planes after a possible threat while leaving a Nato summit

Donald Trump has confirmed that he switched planes after leaving a Nato summit in Turkey last month because of a possible security threat.

The US president said he followed advice from the Secret Service and the military, who wanted him to travel on a different aircraft. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he simply had to do what security officials told him.

The Trump plane swap has raised fresh questions about what happened on 8 July, when cameras appeared to show him boarding Air Force One at Ankara airport.

According to reports, Trump boarded the presidential aircraft in public view, then was secretly moved off the plane and taken away in a catering truck. He was then transferred to a smaller C-32A military aircraft, a modified Boeing 757 often used by the vice-president.

Officials told CBS News that the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane. The New York Times also reported that US intelligence had information about a person near the Nato summit who had been seen with a shoulder-fired missile.

Trump did not give detailed information about the threat. He said there had been a threat “out there” and added that he receives many threats that the public never hears about.

The manoeuvre happened shortly after the US resumed military strikes on Iran following the breakdown of talks between Washington and Tehran.

Journalists and some White House staff were still on the original aircraft and did not know the president had been moved. They were reportedly told to keep their window shades down during the flight, a detail that later attracted attention.

A media pool producer on board said the instruction felt unusual. A photographer who briefly opened a shade was reportedly told to close it again.

The White House Correspondents’ Association later included those concerns in a report, noting that the press had not been informed that Trump was no longer on board.

The Trump plane swap also created confusion because the original aircraft continued using the “AF1” call sign, while the plane carrying Trump used the call sign “Reach 18”. Technically, Air Force One is the call sign for any aircraft carrying the US president, not one specific plane.

The reported ruse was designed to make it appear that Trump was still on the original aircraft.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs, in an apparent effort to make that flight look routine. Meanwhile, members of Trump’s cabinet, including Marco Rubio and Scott Bessent, were reportedly left on the original aircraft.

Trump later said the plane he actually boarded may have been at “greater risk” because attackers might have been more likely to target the aircraft carrying him.

After leaving Turkey, Trump flew to the UK before later reappearing on the older Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall. It remains unclear exactly how he moved from the C-32A back to the presidential jet.

The president then transferred to the newer Qatari-donated Air Force One for the flight back to Washington. During that journey, he spoke to reporters about threats from Iran but did not mention the earlier aircraft switch.

The incident has prompted questions about the safety of journalists travelling with the president. Jose Zamora, regional director for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said reporters should be told about credible security threats so they can make informed decisions about their own safety.

For Trump, the episode underlines the personal risk surrounding the Iran conflict. He has previously said he was Iran’s “number one target” during the summit.

For the press corps, it has raised a different concern: whether they were placed on a decoy aircraft without being told enough about the danger.