Multiple outlets reported that the Trump administration orchestrated an elaborate plan to get Trump out of Turkey during the NATO summit on July 8, transporting him via a catering container to a military plane, after intelligence officials flagged a specific threat tied to Iran.
Jason Russell, a former Secret Service Agent who spent eight years protecting presidents and planning security details ahead of presidential trips, says that the President boarding Air Force One is normally the last thing that happens before the plane closes its door and begins taking off.
The catering truck, seen at the bottom of the picture, was parked at the front of Air Force One on July 8 before it took off from Turkey. —Michelle Stoddart–Pool
Russell explained that flying is usually deemed the safest way to transport a President because airspaces are normally severely restricted for Air Force One to pass by. Yet threats remain, including drone attacks and even surface-to-air missile attacks.
Robert McDonald, who spent 21 years with the Secret Service, including on the Presidential Protective Division and as a supervisory agent on then-Vice President Biden's detail, said the plane-swapping operation in Turkey reflects real-time improvisation by presidential security personnel rather than a standing procedure.
McDonald described the decision-making process around such operations as a joint effort among the Secret Service, the White House Military Office and White House staff, with "no one entity" holding more authority than the others.
McDonald pushed back on the idea that Air Force One and the people still aboard it, including journalists, were left exposed. “I would find it incredibly hard to believe that those two planes weren't escorted or with other assets from allies or the U.S. Air Force in the area,” he said, adding that he doubted the people on the aircraft “were dangled out there and left to fend for themselves.”
On the secrecy around the maneuver in Turkey—with even journalists traveling with Trump left in the dark—McDonald said limiting the circle of those informed is standard practice, especially now. “We're in a time now where instantaneous news articles are going out—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook,” he said. “That doesn't help the plan that the Secret Service needs to implement.”
Ultimately, McDonald said, judgments about the optics of the operation are secondary to its outcome. “Everybody that I'm aware of got home from that trip to Turkey," he said. "The bottom line is everybody got home safe. That's the main function of the Secret Service.”
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