Two members of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet were on a decoy plane that Trump secretly exited before boarding a different flight 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 didn’t join a flight that was provided to Trump over security concerns involving Iran.
After Trump entered Air Force One on 8 July with both officials and members of the press, he hid on a catering truck to be clandestinely transported to a military plane.
The label “Air Force One” applies to any plane the president is on, but in this case the original craft kept the call signal, becoming a decoy.
According to CBS – the BBC’s US partner – Rubio and Bessent remained on board the first aircraft to maintain the line of succession in case something happened to Trump.
In the event that the president dies or is incapacitated, Vice-President JD Vance would take power, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
The Secretary of State comes next in line, followed by the treasury secretary.
Others who stayed on the initial aircraft designated as Air Force One included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director.
The second aircraft that flew President Trump out of Ankara also included Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, according to US media reports.
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Trump said the decision to undertake 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, saying only that he gets “a lot of threats”.
“Any consequential president has a lot of threats,” he added.
