Trump confirms he left NATO summit on decoy flight over Iran threat

U.S. President Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday that he was instructed to transfer to a decoy aircraft upon leaving a NATO summit in Turkey due to an Iranian threat. Speaking to reporters after his return from an event in Ohio, Trump stated, "I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats."

The president admitted that the plane he had left from might have been at greater risk, adding, "I don’t worry about anything, to be honest." The covert move took place after U.S. intelligence identified a credible threat from Iran, although it was not disclosed to the public until The Washington Post reported on it on Monday. While it isn't uncommon for leaders to take discreet trips for security reasons, the secrecy surrounding this incident is unprecedented, as it was carried out in real-time and kept hidden from the public until after the threat had passed.

After disembarking Air Force One, Trump was placed on a smaller jet that took off for a military base in England, where he exited the plane before boarding it again. The Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-800, valued at $400 million, was not equipped with advanced missile detection and countermeasure systems found on older presidential jets, which Trump revealed before his departure.