WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senior members of United States President Donald Trump’s administration—including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—remained on board the initial presidential aircraft during a high-stakes security deception in Turkey last month, according to reports from CBS News.
Preserving the Line of Succession
The revelation sheds new light on the clandestine operation on July 8 at an airport in Ankara, where President Trump secretly transitioned from the legacy Boeing 747 to a smaller military aircraft via an elevated catering truck.
While the president was whisked away to mitigate risks from a credible Iranian threat, Rubio and Bessent stayed on the primary aircraft—which continued to use the "Air Force One" call sign as an airborne decoy.
According to network reporting, keeping key cabinet officials on the primary flight was intended to preserve the official presidential line of succession.
Under constitutional guidelines, the vice president is first in line, followed by congressional leaders, the secretary of state, and the treasury secretary.
Other prominent administration officials remaining on the initial aircraft included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Communications Director Steven Cheung. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accompanied President Trump on the secondary military transport.
Precedents and Security Protocol
The deployment of decoy transport is a historic tactic utilized by the U.S. Secret Service during high-risk diplomatic missions.
Similar "shell games" have historically involved motorcades and helicopter fleets, and occasionally air travel. For instance, a similar decoy operation was executed during a presidential visit to Pakistan in March 2000.
While the operation successfully transported the president away from potential danger, questions have persisted regarding the safety of the staff, security personnel, and traveling press corps who remained entirely unaware that they were riding on a decoy flight.
The White House has been contacted for additional comment as reviews of the security protocols continue.
