Trump's secret Turkey aircraft swap mirrors Clinton's Pakistan maneuver, with one key difference
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump’s secret transfer to an unmarked military aircraft during a recent trip from Turkey to the United Kingdom has drawn comparisons to a similar security maneuver used by former President Bill Clinton during a trip to Pakistan in 2000.
Trump was secretly moved from the older Air Force One aircraft to a separate military jet before departure amid reports of Iranian threats.
However, unlike the Clinton operation, journalists traveling with Trump were not informed about the aircraft switch beforehand and were instructed to keep their window shades closed.
Trump secretly moved to unmarked military aircraft
According to the Washington Post, security personnel at an airport in Turkey moved Trump from the aircraft publicly presented as Air Force One to a smaller, unmarked Air Force aircraft.
The operation reportedly involved using an airport catering truck to move the president without drawing attention to his departure.
The journalists traveling with Trump remained aboard the original aircraft, which continued to the United Kingdom.
They were reportedly unaware that Trump was no longer on the plane and were instructed to keep the shades over the press cabin windows closed.
Politico reporter Megan Messerly, who served as the print pool reporter, said, “we have been advised to keep our window shades in the press cabin closed. See you on the other side.”
After landing, she described the flight as uneventful.
New note from pool reporter on NATO summit trip: “Once on board, the pool was instructed to keep our window shades closed. Our audio tech John Glennon notes that a Secret Service agent came back to the press cabin to remind us to keep our window shades closed. At one point, a… https://t.co/onEMi00yI7
— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) August 11, 2026
Former CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said the episode could affect trust between the White House and reporters traveling with the president.
Bill Clinton used similar decoy flight
The Trump operation has similarities to a security maneuver used during Clinton’s 2000 visit to Pakistan, when officials also used multiple aircraft to conceal the president’s movements.
During that trip, a decoy aircraft bearing Air Force One markings arrived in Islamabad in view of the media.
A Secret Service agent who resembled Clinton emerged from the aircraft, while the then-president arrived separately aboard an unmarked plane. There was, however, a key difference in how the press was handled.
Susan Page, then a USA Today White House reporter and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was briefed by White House press and security officials before the India-to-Pakistan flight.
She was told about the decoy aircraft, Clinton’s actual location, and the security measures being used because of the risks associated with the trip.
“They told me about the extraordinary security procedures being taken because of the dangers in flying there, including use of the decoy plane,” Page told WaPo.
“Of course, the dangers threatened the journalists covering the trip as well as President Clinton.”
Susan Page just broke an off the record agreement with the Clinton White House to disclose that she was tipped off to moving Clinton to another plane in 2000. She says it's been long enough, so it's cool.
— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) August 11, 2026
Meanwhile, if the Trump White House did tell a reporter about this off the… https://t.co/QbzKDd3vW8
Page kept the information confidential for more than 25 years under the terms of the off-the-record briefing. She has since said the agreement had expired and that Clinton’s actual arrival made the deception apparent.
