President Donald Trump confirmed he did not travel on Air Force One with White House staff and reporters after a NATO summit in Turkey, but was instead secreted onto a separate plane at the behest of the Secret Service and the military due to a security threat.
“It’s only up to Secret Service,” Trump said. “I just follow what they like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane. Equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. ”
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump was not aboard the presidential 747 that serves as Air Force One when it departed the summit on July 8, despite boarding the plane with cameras rolling. After boarding, the president was transferred via a catering truck to a waiting military aircraft.