Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were aboard the same aircraft that President Trump had quietly disembarked from before it left Ankara, Turkey, last month, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.
The plane, which had been publicly identified as Air Force One, was effectively a decoy after the Secret Service directed Trump to switch to a smaller C-32A jet. The president secretly left the original aircraft via a catering truck, a move first reported by The Washington Post. A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that Rubio was aware of the switch and the potential assassination threat from Iran, while Bessent was likely aware but not certain.
Decoy flight and line of succession
The revelation raises fresh concerns about the safety of senior officials who are high in the presidential line of succession. After Vice President Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, Rubio and Bessent are fourth and fifth in line to the presidency. Their presence on the decoy plane underscores the risks they faced if the aircraft had been targeted.
Reporters traveling with the president were unaware of the switch and believed Trump was on the same plane. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with White House aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino, flew with Trump on the smaller aircraft, CBS News reported.
White House and agency responses
The Hill has reached out to the State and Treasury departments for comment. Trump addressed the switch on Tuesday, telling reporters at Joint Base Andrews that the decision was made by the Secret Service and the military. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane. Equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I did it. I do what they say,” Trump said, adding that the plane he flew on “was at greater risk.”
The incident comes as the conflict with Iran approaches the six-month mark, and after Trump survived an assassination attempt in July 2024. Secret Service agents have thwarted two other attempts since then. The economic pressure campaign against Iran has been a central pillar of the administration's strategy, but the security threat remains elevated.
The use of a decoy plane is a standard security measure, but the fact that two senior cabinet members were on it without full awareness has drawn criticism from security experts and lawmakers. Some have questioned whether the line of succession should be better informed in such situations.
Rubio's recent diplomatic engagements, including his rare joint podcast interview with his wife, have been overshadowed by this security lapse. The State Department has not commented on whether Rubio was briefed on the full details of the threat.
As the administration continues to navigate the Iran crisis and domestic security challenges, the decoy plane incident adds another layer of scrutiny to the president's travel protocols and the safety of those around him.
