- US President Donald Trump secretly switched planes amid an Iranian threat after NATO summit last month
- The primary Air Force One acted as a decoy with press and staff onboard during the switch
- The journalists on the decoy plane were unaware of the threat or the president's plane swap
US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on July 8, moments before he was smuggled off the main presidential aircraft inside an airport catering container and boarded onto a secondary, smaller military aircraft while travelling back to the US from a NATO summit in Turkey.
The primary aircraft, carrying the White House press pool, security personnel, and support staff, was sent into the sky ahead of him to serve as a decoy.
When the journalists on the decoy flight asked him why they had been instructed to lower their window shades, Trump told them, "Because you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with."
He later joked, "If I go, you go. Right?"
"Perhaps someday you want to change professions," he added.
According to The New York Times, an Iranian threat prompted Trump's secret Air Force One swap last month. Two US officials told the publication that they knew about one specific threat, which was a surface-to-air missile against Air Force One.
Read | Why Reporters Are Angry About Trump's Secret Flight Out Of Turkey
One more threat was that someone present near the NATO summit had been seen with a shoulder-fired missile.
Trump boarded the presidential plane in full view of video cameras and photographers, with AFP pictures showing two supply containers on hydraulic lifts at the front and rear of the aircraft.
The president then reportedly quickly left the plane, stepping inside one of the cargo containers, to board a smaller US Air Force aircraft positioned nearby.
Read | "I Do What They Say": Trump On Changing Planes On Secret Service's Request
About a dozen journalists traveling in a separate section of Air Force One with no access to the president were unaware of the switch and flew out of Turkey on the plane despite the apparent threat from Iran, which is at war with the United States.
However, Trump downplayed the risk to the people he left on the 'decoy plane'.
"I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk," Trump said on Tuesday, who did not provide many details about the action. But he said the incident did not scare him.
"I don't worry about anything, to be honest," Trump said. "Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever!"
