President Donald Trump confirmed that he switched planes in Turkey after the NATO summit, a secret move that left the traveling press pool unknowingly flying as decoys. Trump said the decision was up to the Secret Service and the military, citing the Iran threat as the reason for the switch.
About a dozen journalists were flown out of Turkey without being told that Trump was not on their aircraft. One reporter complained that covering the president does not include being used as a decoy.
Historians noted that previous secret presidential trips by Bill Clinton or Joe Biden concealed the president's whereabouts from the public, but Trump's move went further by keeping even the press pool in the dark.
The White House has not provided further details about the security arrangements. Trump's remarks were his first public confirmation of the plane switch, which had been reported earlier.