Trump Says He Followed Secret Service Request Regarding Secret Plane Transfer Controversy

U.S. President Donald Trump has explained that his "secret plane transfer" controversy was a measure taken at the request of the Secret Service and the military.

According to Bloomberg, President Trump confirmed on the 11th (local time), upon arriving at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C., after a business trip to Ohio, that the "secret transfer" highlighted in a Washington Post (WP) report the previous day actually took place.

Previously on the 10th, the Washington Post reported exclusively that when President Trump was leaving Türkiye last month on the 8th after attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, he initially boarded an older Air Force One, secretly got off through the opposite door, and transferred to a U.S. Air Force C-32A aircraft using a catering truck.

This fact had remained unknown for over a month until the WP report came out, and even the White House pool reporters accompanying the trip were unaware of it.

President Trump said, "They (Secret Service and military officials) wanted me to take a different flight, a different plane. The safety is the same, but they wanted to do it, so I did it. I do what they tell me to do."

When asked why the "decoy plane" operation was conducted, President Trump replied, "I think there was some sort of threat. I didn't ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats."

President Trump did not elaborate on the specific nature of the threat.

He also did not disclose why the military judged that while others could safely ride the existing presidential aircraft, President Trump could not.

President Trump said, "I don't know. Actually, I think the plane I was on might have been in greater danger."

This "secret transfer" measure illustrates that the U.S. government can take exceptional steps to prepare for potential assassination attempts against President Trump by Iran.

The aircraft involved in President Trump's NATO summit trip totaled three: a Boeing VC-25A aircraft primarily used as Air Force One until June of this year (hereafter the older Air Force One), a Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft primarily used as Air Force One starting July of this year (hereafter the newer Air Force One), and a C-32A aircraft for "special air missions" primarily used by the Air Force for transporting high-ranking officials such as the vice president and cabinet secretaries.

Among these, the VC-25A is a heavily modified military version of the Boeing 747-200B, the VC-25B Bridge of the Boeing 747-8I, and the C-32A of the Boeing 757-200.

The designation "Air Force One" is not permanently assigned to a specific aircraft body, but rather refers to any aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force when the incumbent U.S. president is aboard.

When the president is on board, it is also used as the air traffic control call sign for that aircraft.

President Trump arrived in Ankara, Türkiye, on July 7 aboard the newer Air Force One, and after finishing his NATO summit schedule the next day, he boarded the older Air Force One in front of TV cameras.

However, he secretly exited through the opposite door of the older Air Force One and transferred to the C-32A using an airport catering truck.

The C-32A carrying President Trump flew to the Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom with its flight tracking signals turned off, without using the usual "Air Force One" call sign applied to presidential aircraft, but instead using the ordinary call sign "Reach 18."

President Trump was also filmed getting off the older Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall.

Until the WP report, the fact that the C-32A had served as Air Force One—meaning President Trump was on board—was unknown, and it was mistakenly believed that President Trump had traveled to the UK aboard the older Air Force One.

Reporters who boarded the older Air Force One in Ankara on July 8 were asked to lower their window blinds before taking off to depart for the UK.

Asked that evening why they were told to lower the blinds, President Trump only answered, "It was probably a dangerous flight because of bad people we have to deal with."

According to a report by the New York Times (NYT) on the 11th, while President Trump was aboard the C-32A, the older Air Force One continued to carry the individuals who had accompanied him on the trip.

This included high-ranking U.S. government officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, as well as military officials and reporters.

The controversies surrounding the "secret transfer" and "decoy aircraft" have raised questions regarding the appropriateness of the White House's press management and security measures, given that the White House failed to properly disclose these actions either beforehand or afterward.

There is a precedent from 2000 when then-U.S. President Bill Clinton used a "decoy aircraft" to divert attention and temporarily conceal his actual transport for personal safety during a trip to India and Pakistan, but that case differed in that the White House informed the pool reporters' representative in advance and discussed the security measures.
 
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.