Trump explains plane switch following Iranian threats against Air Force One

Donald Trump has commented publicly for the first time on a covert operation that saw him secretly switched from Air Force One to a smaller aircraft while returning from last month's NATO summit, after intelligence officials flagged a possible Iranian assassination threat. He confirmed the switch was carried out at the Secret Service's request, saying he simply complies with their instructions, though he downplayed the seriousness of the intelligence and suggested the smaller plane he actually boarded may have been at greater risk than the decoy Air Force One left to fly on with unsuspecting journalists and staff.

The ruse involved Trump being smuggled from the legacy Air Force One in Ankara via a food container loaded onto a catering truck, then transferred to a C-32A while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ostentatiously boarded the smaller jet to maintain the illusion. Journalists on the decoy Air Force One were told to lower their window shades, believing the president was aboard, before Trump was switched back and continued home on the Qatari-gifted 747-8. He said he faces threats "all the time" and believes he is top of Iran's target list, a claim given added weight by a large banner recently spotted in Tehran depicting him under a bullseye.