Donald Trump Throws Secret Service Under the Bus Over Air Force One Decoy Controversy: 'I Do What They Say'

President Donald Trump threw the Secret Service under the bus in his catering truck calamity, saying that he was following their directives when he covertly switched planes to avoid a severe security threat.

Following revelations by The Washington Post regarding a clandestine operation at the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump clarified that protective agencies entirely managed the security decisions.

He did argue, however, that the alternate military plane chosen for him faced a greater risk of attack than the decoy Air Force One.

U.S. intelligence detected an extremely serious Iranian plot — possibly involving a shoulder-fired missile — targeting the president as he departed Ankara, Turkey.

Trump publicly boarded the legacy Air Force One 747 in front of television cameras on July 8.

Minutes later, he secretly slipped off the jumbo jet by hiding inside an airport catering truck, a move that has been widely condemned and subsequently mocked in viral memes.

The catering truck transported Trump farther down the tarmac to an unmarked military C-32A jet, which flew him in secret to a base in the United Kingdom.

The original Air Force One flew to the U.K. as a decoy. It carried traveling journalists and senior White House staff — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — who were kept completely unaware that the president was no longer on board.

Trump emphasized that he does not orchestrate flight logistics, telling reporters, "It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, uh, equal safety. But they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say.”

The elderly POTUS dismissed concerns that the press and staff left on the decoy flight were placed in extra jeopardy. He argued his unmarked military plane was at a higher risk because attackers would be "more likely to go for" the aircraft he was actually occupying.

“Well, I don’t know. I think, actually, the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for,” he said.

He claimed he did not press for many details regarding the specific intelligence, stating that "any consequential president has a lot of threats” and added that he wasn’t worried.

“Uh, I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is, you know, my attitude? Whatever,” he said.

The revelation has drawn scrutiny from congressional Democrats, who are now demanding formal intelligence briefings.

Critics and media figures have also raised ethical and safety concerns regarding the decision to use a plane full of staff and journalists as an unwitting decoy during an active missile threat.

Former Secret Service officials have defended the move, noting that keeping information contained is standard protocol during high-stakes deception operations.