Trump confirms secret plane swap over threat

Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he secretly switched planes because of a threat to his life, after reports that he was moved off Air Force One in Turkey while journalists and senior aides remained aboard the presidential aircraft.

“They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane -- equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it.”

The Washington Post reported that Trump covertly left Air Force One while it was on the ground in Turkey on July 8 before the plane departed. The newspaper said he had boarded the presidential aircraft in view of cameras and photographers, then left through a supply container and boarded a smaller US Air Force aircraft nearby.

About a dozen journalists traveling in a separate section of Air Force One were unaware of the switch and flew out of Turkey on the plane. Some traveling media expressed anger that they had unknowingly served as decoys, while others complained about deception and a lack of communication from the White House.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had briefed the United States about a possible shoulder-to-air missile strike on Air Force One. It said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among senior officials and staff who remained on the plane.

Trump said the aircraft he used may have faced greater danger. “I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” he told reporters. “Because that would be the plane I think that -- that they would be more likely to go for.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for Congress to be briefed “on the Iranian threats against the president, the extraordinary measures taken to get him out of Turkey.”

Trump’s trip to the NATO summit had already drawn attention because he arrived on a luxury Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar and retrofitted to carry the US president. AFP reported that the aircraft was not fitted with anti-missile security systems and that the older Air Force One was called into action.