US President Donald Trump was secretly moved off Air Force One inside a catering vehicle in Ankara last month before the aircraft, carrying dozens of government staff, journalists and military personnel unaware of his absence, took off as a decoy.
According to The New York Times report, that cited details first disclosed by The Washington Post and later confirmed by other outlets, said officials had concluded that Iran posed a credible threat to shoot down the presidential aircraft during the July 8 leg of Trump's journey from Ankara to Britain.
To counter this, Trump was quietly extracted from the plane and flown separately, while those left aboard, including reporters instructed to keep their window shades drawn, had no idea he was not with them.
He later rejoined the aircraft before it landed publicly in Britain.
Joe Lockhart, who was press secretary to Bill Clinton, criticised the operation's disregard for those left aboard.
"They just didn't seem to give a second thought to anybody but the president and the few people who were with him," he told the outlet, contrasting it with efforts during Clinton's 2000 Pakistan visit to avoid using civilians as unwitting shields.
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Others defended the manoeuvre. Joseph Hagin, a former Bush and Trump aide, said travelling with a president "you are accepting a not-insignificant degree of risk," adding that disclosing the plan in advance "would have obviously jeopardised the president's safety."
Ari Fleischer, press secretary under George W. Bush, wrote on social media that "the safety of potus always comes first," noting that in an attack scenario, "everyone else is on their own."
John Kirby, a former Obama and Biden administration spokesman, said the White House was justified in keeping specifics secret but "also have an obligation" to give travellers "the broad contours" of known risk so they can make informed decisions.
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The White House did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment on the security calculations involved.
The Ankara episode follows previous assassination attempts against Trump in recent years including the major ones in 2024 in Pennsylvania and Florida.
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