The US Secret Service routinely uses decoy vehicles, aircraft and misdirection to conceal the real movements of the president, a practice highlighted by reports that Donald Trump was secretly transferred by catering truck to a separate military aircraft after appearing to board Air Force One in Ankara on 8 July. Those remaining on the original plane were unwitting decoys, unaware the president was no longer aboard as it left the Nato summit in Turkey. Such deception is longstanding agency practice, used to protect presidents from anyone seeking to track or harm them, particularly during high-risk foreign travel.

Former agents told the BBC that smaller-scale versions of this "shell game" happen routinely, with presidential motorcades typically featuring two identical "Beast" limousines that swap positions en route, and Marine One flying in groups of three helicopters to obscure which carries the president. More elaborate deceptions have been used abroad in the past: Bill Clinton flew into Islamabad in 2000 behind a decoy jet, George W Bush secretly visited Baghdad in 2003 despite claiming he would be in Texas, and Joe Biden was secretly taken to Ukraine in 2023 with a minimal press pool. The exact threat prompting the Trump aircraft switch remains unclear, and neither the Secret Service nor the White House has confirmed the details.