Two members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet—Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—remained aboard a decoy Air Force One after Trump quietly exited onto a catering truck in Turkey last month.
When Trump boarded what appeared to be Air Force One on 8 July, the press room and accompanying officials welcomed him aboard. Inside, Trump hid on a catering truck, a covert transport meant to escort the former president onto a military aircraft that could re‑take the official call sign.
Rubio and Bessent stayed on the initial plane to maintain the line of succession in the event of an emergency with the president. The U.S. Senate’s succession order—Vice‑President John D. Vance, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary—dictates the sequence of officials that must remain aboard.
Other White House aides—Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Communications Director Steven Cheung—also stayed on the first aircraft, further securing the president’s safety chain.
The operation, reported by CBS News and corroborated by the BBC, illustrates the sophisticated security protocols employed to protect the U.S. president during overseas travel. The White House has not yet issued a statement in response to the story.
