Reporting on Trump’s departure from a NATO summit describes a security-driven split-flight operation. It also leaves key details about the perceived threat, passenger awareness and Natalie Harp’s access unresolved.
Donald Trump reportedly left Ankara, Turkey, on a different military aircraft after initially boarding the plane carrying Cabinet officials and journalists. The first plane continued as a decoy, according to reporting cited by the BBC.
The unusual arrangement put the focus on an unanswered issue: what intelligence prompted the maneuver. It also drew attention to the small group that traveled with Trump, including executive assistant Natalie Harp.
What is known about the departure
The reported switch occurred on July 8 as Trump departed Ankara following a NATO summit. He initially entered the aircraft expected to carry him, administration officials and the press pool.
Before takeoff, he was quietly transferred to another military plane, according to reporting cited by the BBC. Reports said he used a catering truck to move between the aircraft without attracting attention.
Trump later said the military and Secret Service made the decision to use a different flight. He did not publicly provide a detailed account of the threat, saying he receives many threats.
The threat reporting remains unsettled
BBC and U.S. media reports described concerns about a possible Iranian threat during the trip. CBS News reported that U.S. and Turkish intelligence had detected information about a possible Iranian plot to fire a surface-to-air missile at the presidential aircraft.
Other reports included an allegation that a person carrying a portable surface-to-air missile may have been seen near the NATO gathering. Those details have been reported by the BBC and other news organizations, but the source, credibility and official assessment of the information have not been fully made public.
The BBC reported that U.S. media accounts differed over how seriously American officials viewed the intelligence. One official cited by The Washington Post said the CIA considered the warnings Israeli-derived rather than U.S.-generated and assessed them with low confidence.
The available public record therefore supports that officials carried out a protective operation, but not a complete public explanation of the intelligence behind it.
How the decoy arrangement worked
The original aircraft reportedly retained the Air Force One call sign after Trump left it, making it the decoy flight. The term Air Force One applies to any aircraft carrying the president, but the call sign reportedly stayed with the first plane in this instance.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were reported to have remained aboard that aircraft. BBC reporting said they were among a limited group aware of the switch and remained on the first flight to maintain the line of succession if something happened to the president.
Journalists on the original plane reportedly did not know before departure that Trump had moved. Reporting also said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and communications director Steven Cheung stayed on the first aircraft.
The restricted passenger list drew attention
BBC reporting identified Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Harp, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta as among those on the aircraft Trump used after the transfer.
Harp’s presence became a subject of attention because she is an executive assistant in Trump’s orbit and was among the small group reported to have traveled with him. The Independent has reported that Harp’s relatives characterized her relationship with Trump as unhealthy.
The relatives’ full remarks, the timing of those remarks and any response from Harp were not available in the material reviewed. That characterization remains an attributed report, not an independently established account of her personal life.
Available reporting does not indicate that Harp planned the aircraft switch or explain why she was selected for the alternate flight. Her presence alone does not establish either point.
Security needs and press access collided
Protective details can use misdirection to make a president’s movements harder to predict. The BBC noted that President Bill Clinton used an unmarked executive jet during a 2000 trip to Islamabad, Pakistan, after a decoy aircraft arrived first.
That history provides context for the security rationale behind deception, but it does not resolve whether passengers on the Ankara decoy flight were told enough about the situation or whether they faced a separate risk.
In some earlier cases, journalists have been briefed under embargo so they can accurately track a president without revealing movements in real time. The White House Correspondents’ Association had not publicly detailed its position on the Ankara flight in BBC reporting.
Its president, Jacqui Heinrich, said in an internal message that she had raised concerns with administration officials about preserving independent coverage. The result is a continuing tension between a security operation designed to limit predictability and the press pool’s need to document presidential travel.
Questions still surround the operation
The broad outline is clear: Trump changed planes in Ankara in an effort intended to reduce a perceived security risk, while senior officials and journalists remained on the first aircraft. The severity of the risk, the information given to those passengers and the full basis for the decision remain unclear.
The episode also leaves questions about the passenger list, including Harp’s role and access. More on-the-record information from the White House, Harp or her relatives, along with a fuller account of the threat assessment, would be needed to resolve them.
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