More details are coming out regarding President Trump’s covert exit from Turkey last month, the New York Times reports. When the POTUS was seen boarding Air Force One in Ankara after an Iranian threat emerged, he didn’t actually leave on that plane. Instead, he slipped into a catering container and was moved to a different aircraft, while the original presidential jet took off as a decoy. On that decoy flight: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, senior adviser Stephen Miller, White House communications director Steven Cheung, and the traveling press corps, according to two unnamed officials who spoke to the Times.
Rubio knew about the threat, but it’s unclear who else on board did; some staffers and all reporters were kept in the dark, the sources say. The White House has not answered questions about how it decided who flew with Trump and who stayed on the decoy, or provided a full passenger list. Meanwhile, Rubio ignored a question from CNN about whether the move put Americans in danger, and Trump himself on Tuesday downplayed what the AP calls the “extraordinary nature of the subterfuge” and the risk to those on the decoy plane, saying, “They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane. I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.” He argued that the plane he actually flew on was probably in more danger, but added, “I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever!”