US medics slam Trump vaccine order as Air Force One ‘catering cart’ escape claim emerges
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 10 August directing a review of childhood vaccination guidance. It identifies 11 diseases for which immunisation should be recommended for all children, calls for the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to be offered as three separate products once available, and says childhood immunisations should, where feasible, be given at separate appointments. The order also directs Health and Human Services to produce plans within 90 days and encourages states to reconsider relevant school-immunisation rules. The American Medical Association said changing an established schedule without credible evidence could undermine confidence and endanger children; the American Academy of Pediatrics described the proposal as unscientific and dangerous, while maintaining its existing schedule. The order does not itself immediately alter state vaccination requirements, which are set by individual states.
Separately, reports published on 10 and 11 August said Trump had been moved covertly from an older Air Force One aircraft to a smaller military jet after the July NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. According to US officials cited by the Washington Post and ABC News, he used an airport catering container or truck to leave the presidential aircraft, while the larger plane acted as a decoy. The reported operation was prompted by intelligence alleging an Iranian cell had obtained a shoulder-fired missile and knew of his movements. Trump later said that the Secret Service and military had wanted him on a different plane because of a threat. The reported threat assessment and the secrecy of the operation drew scrutiny, but the available accounts describe a security measure rather than an attempt to evade routine travel arrangements.
- Trump ordered a review and restructuring of federal childhood vaccine recommendations.
- Major US medical bodies said the proposed spacing and splitting of vaccines lacks credible supporting evidence.
- Reports said Trump secretly changed aircraft in Turkey after an alleged Iranian threat.
Full account
Two separate rows involving Donald Trump surfaced this week, one over a shake-up to America's childhood vaccination programme and the other over a covert manoeuvre to spirit the president out of Turkey amid an alleged assassination plot. Medical bodies have criticised the administration for tinkering with an established immunisation timetable, while new reporting has detailed how Trump was moved between aircraft via a catering vehicle after intelligence suggested an Iranian cell was tracking his movements with a shoulder-fired missile.
The American Medical Association issued a pointed rebuke after changes were made to the vaccine schedule, with its president, Dr Willie Underwood III, warning that any departure from a proven regime not grounded in solid evidence risks eroding public trust and endangering children. He stressed that immunisation policy ought to be guided by rigorous science, patient safety and independent medical opinion rather than political direction, noting that the American Academy of Pediatrics' own schedule remains unchanged and reflects decades of research showing no connection between vaccines and autism. The AMA, which represents physicians nationwide through its network of state and specialty societies, urged parents with concerns to consult their child's doctor rather than act on the revised guidance.
Separately, it has emerged that the decision to secretly reroute Trump away from Ankara last month, after a NATO summit, was taken only four or five hours before his scheduled departure. According to a senior administration official, the switch followed intelligence that an Iranian terror cell had entered Turkey carrying a shoulder-launched missile and may have had knowledge of the president's schedule while he was in the Turkish capital. Trump was moved from the original Air Force One onto a separate military aircraft by passing through a catering container, a manoeuvre reportedly hidden even from some White House staff and journalists travelling on the decoy plane. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were said to have remained aboard the decoy jet, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth flew with the president; all three were reportedly aware of the switch once it had happened.
Accounts of the operation describe additional precautions, including reporters aboard the believed-presidential flight being told to keep window blinds shut throughout, F-35 fighter escorts for both aircraft (unusual for the decoy), and the original Air Force One's transponder being switched off. The White House, responding to the reporting, said the president faces genuine threats and that all available tools are used to protect him, while Trump himself later credited the Secret Service and military with the operation and was said by the administration official to have relished the subterfuge. The two stories differ markedly in tone and sourcing: the AMA's vaccine warning is an on-the-record institutional statement focused on public health risk, whereas the Air Force One account rests on anonymous administration sources and was originally broken by the Washington Post, with ABC News adding detail on which officials were on each aircraft; neither source elaborates on the precise content of the disputed vaccine order itself.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 (the AMA statement) is an on-the-record institutional rebuke focused solely on public health risk and does not describe the specific contents of the disputed vaccine order.
Source 2 relies on anonymous administration officials and traces back to original Washington Post reporting, with ABC News adding further detail on which cabinet officials were aboard each aircraft.
The AMA statement offers no comment on the Air Force One incident, and the Air Force One reporting offers no comment on vaccines — the two stories are only linked by the headline, not by any single outlet covering both.
More coverage
- The White House — Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans
- American Medical Association — AMA statement on executive order changing childhood vaccine schedule
- ABC News — Trump's decoy flight sparked by fears of Iranian cell with shoulder-fired missile: Official
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