Donald Trump has confirmed reports that he secretly left Turkey by switching planes after a threat from Iran.
The US president said he followed advice from the Secret Service and military when leaving last month’s NATO summit in Ankara. He said, “they wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane”.
He added: “I just have to do what they say.”
Trump said the plane he left Turkey on was “at greater risk”, adding: “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”
Senior US officials had earlier told the New York Times and Washington Post that, despite Trump’s public claim that he returned on Air Force One, he was moved for security reasons.
On Tuesday, Trump addressed the reported threat from Tehran, saying: “I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about.
“Any consequential presidents have a lot of threats. Non-consequential presidents don’t get threatened. And I think that I may be the most consequential president.”
NBC News reported that only Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Trump in switching planes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior staff stayed on the older Air Force One.
The threat was considered extremely serious and immediate and reportedly included possible shoulder-to-air missiles. Officials said they were in “probably the most unprecedented level of alertness we’ve ever been at.”
The plane switch was described as a “snap decision” after Trump discussed the options with senior staff.
Trump was reportedly moved from Air Force One using a catering container before boarding a C-32A, a military version of a Boeing 757.
After arriving in the UK, he was secretly moved back to the older Air Force One.
Reporters travelling with Trump were told to keep their window blinds closed. He later said he had threats “all the time” and was Iran’s “number one” target.
The White House did not directly address the reports. Communications director Steven Cheung said: “As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”
The Secret Service declined to comment, while the Air Force referred questions to the White House.
