Kenneth Glad
An unusual journey involving the American presidency has drawn attention to the people traveling alongside senior officials. Details made public afterward have raised questions about what passengers knew while events were unfolding.
Donald Trump has confirmed that his security team secretly moved him to another aircraft after the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, leaving journalists, White House personnel and senior administration figures aboard the plane that appeared to be carrying the US president.
The change followed intelligence indicating a possible Iranian attack. CBS News reported that American authorities had identified a credible threat involving a plan to fire a missile at the president’s aircraft.
The New York Times mentioned intelligence concerning a person near the summit who had reportedly been seen with a shoulder-fired missile. NRK reported separately that the covert departure took place after the United States had resumed military strikes on Iran following a breakdown in negotiations.
Trump said he had simply followed the instructions of the agencies responsible for protecting him. “I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane,” he told reporters, according to the BBC. “I just have to do what they say.”
Other passengers stayed behind
The decision meant that many people traveling with the presidential delegation continued their journey on an aircraft that outwardly appeared to remain the center of the security operation.
Journalists and some White House staff did not know Trump had been removed from the plane. Cabinet officials were also aboard, although public reporting has not established whether those officials had been informed about the president’s transfer.
That distinction has become important because of questions about whether maintaining the illusion could have placed those remaining aboard at greater risk. NRK reported criticism of the arrangement, while Trump later argued that the aircraft actually carrying him might have faced more danger if anyone planning an attack had discovered his true location.
Trump had initially been seen boarding the presidential Boeing 747 at Ankara airport. He was subsequently moved in secret to a C-32A, a military version of the Boeing 757 that is used for senior US government travel.
The aircraft became a decoy
The protective strategy depended on keeping Trump’s location concealed after the transfer.
According to the BBC, the larger aircraft continued using the identifier “AF1”, while the smaller military plane carrying the president operated under the call sign “Reach 18”. The arrangement helped preserve the appearance that Trump remained aboard the aircraft on which journalists and officials were traveling.
Air Force One does not refer exclusively to a particular Boeing 747. The designation is normally used for a US Air Force aircraft while the president is actually on board, which made the circumstances surrounding the two flights especially unusual.
Trump later traveled through Britain as part of his return journey. Some details of how he transferred between aircrafts were not publicly explained, leaving parts of the security operation undisclosed even after the broader sequence became known.
Press safety takes focus
Questions are now being asked about whether the people traveling without Trump were exposed to unnecessary danger.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said the administration has a responsibility to ensure that reporters covering the president are not unnecessarily placed in danger. It also said journalists should receive information about credible threats when that knowledge is necessary for them to assess their own safety.
Protective agencies routinely have reasons to restrict sensitive information while moving a president during a potential threat. The Turkey operation, however, presented an additional issue because the deception involved an aircraft carrying people who may themselves have been exposed to the danger authorities were trying to avoid.
Sources: BBC, NRK. CBS News, The New York Times
