Close personal aides joined President Donald Trump aboard a smaller aircraft flying out of Turkey last month after he snuck out of a larger plane, according to a person familiar with the arrangements, while several Cabinet members remained on the legacy Air Force One that flew without him.
The aides with Trump on that smaller plane included Natalie Harp, an executive assistant who regularly accompanies Trump when he travels; Dan Scavino, a deputy White House chief of staff; and Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office operations who also frequently travels with the president.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also traveled with the president on the smaller C-32A that took off from Ankara, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stayed on the larger plane.
The scramble to devise the furtive plan to sneak Trump out of the country on an alternate jet was prompted by a specific threat to Air Force One by a shoulder-fired missile, according to the person familiar with the matter. The threat emerged on the final day of last month’s NATO summit in Turkey.
The threat was specific enough that officials feared Trump’s life would be at enormous risk if he flew out of the country on either the legacy Air Force One plane or the Qatar-donated jet that he used to fly to the summit.
