Rubio and Bessent stayed aboard decoy jet as Trump secretly switched planes in Turkey

Two members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet remained aboard a decoy aircraft after Trump quietly departed the plane and boarded a different flight while in Turkey last month, according to a US television network report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stayed on what was widely believed to be Air Force One and did not join the alternate flight arranged for Trump due to security concerns tied to Iran. Trump boarded Air Force One on July 8 alongside both officials as well as members of the traveling press before slipping away via a catering truck, which transported him discreetly to a separate military aircraft. Because the designation “Air Force One” applies to whichever plane the president occupies, the original aircraft retained the call sign even after Trump had already left it, effectively turning it into the decoy.

According to the report, Rubio and Bessent remained on the first aircraft in order to preserve the presidential line of succession in case anything happened to Trump during the flight. Under that line of succession, Vice President JD Vance would assume power if the president died or became incapacitated, followed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of State ranks next in the order, followed by the Treasury Secretary.

Others who stayed aboard the original aircraft designated as Air Force One included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House communications director Steven Cheung. The second aircraft that carried Trump out of Ankara also included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to separate US media reports.

Speaking to reporters Monday night, Trump said the decision to carry out the plane switch came from the US military and the Secret Service, who he said wanted him to travel on a different aircraft. He did not provide specifics about the nature of the security threat, saying only that he regularly receives numerous threats and that any consequential president faces the same. A request for comment sent to the White House had not been answered as of publication.