Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats - The New York Times
Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats
"President Trump hid in an airport catering container and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of country after the NATO summit last month.
Top administration officials engaged in an elaborate deception to spirit President Trump out of Turkey during the NATO summit there last month, transporting him in a catering container to a military jet because of a threat against him and Air Force One from Iran, two senior U.S. officials said on Monday.
Mr. Trump and other officials had said publicly that he would be leaving Turkey on July 8 aboard one of the older versions of Air Force One rather than a luxury 747-8 donated by Qatar that he had flown in on. Mr. Trump told reporters at the time that he was making the switch for “old time’s sake.”
Mr. Trump boarded the older plane from the left-side door in view of cameras, and news organizations, including The New York Times, reported that he had traveled on it to Britain, where he switched back to the newer plane. The Times reported at the time that the decision was driven in part by concern about the security of the new plane donated by Qatar, which had not been equipped with all of the defensive capabilities of older versions.
But instead of flying out aboard that older, powder blue, modified 747, Mr. Trump was whisked off that plane via a catering container that had been lifted to the opposite side of the plane from where the journalists traveling with him boarded, one of the U.S. officials said. The president was then taken to a third plane, which he flew in secret to Britain, the official with knowledge of the matter said.
Reporters on the older plane were not told that Mr. Trump had not flown with them from Turkey to an air base in Britain, making them unwitting participants in the ruse and leaving them, along with some White House staff members, to serve as unknowing decoys.
After Mr. Trump arrived in Britain, he was secretly moved back to the older version of Air Force One. He then disembarked in view of reporters and walked across the tarmac to the plane donated by Qatar, which he flew to Washington.
The elaborate plan appears to have been developed in a matter of hours after officials determined that a threat against Mr. Trump from Iran was credible. It came after years of threats against Mr. Trump from Iran and amid the war he launched against that country. And it was an unusual instance of the public being deceived about a president’s whereabouts.
Officials have not previously acknowledged that Mr. Trump was not where they claimed he was. The furtive operation was reported earlier by the Washington Post, which identified the plane that carried the president to Britain from Turkey as a C-32A, a military variant of a Boeing 757.
It is rare for presidents to travel without the reporters who comprise the press pool designated to be with them, or in their vicinity, without some general awareness of the commander in chief’s whereabouts.
President George W. Bush kept a slimmed-down press pool with him as he flew first to a military base and then back to Washington in the chaotic hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. And presidents — including Mr. Trump — have traveled to war zones with reporters alongside them.
Donald Mihalek, a former Secret Service agent who worked in the protective details for Mr. Bush and President Barack Obama, said the Secret Service has used decoy motorcades and flights in the past to move presidents secretly.
“Anytime the president is in a theater where there’s potential combat danger, the Secret Service has employed protective counter measures including the use of a decoy,” Mr. Mihalek said.
He added that the agency has long prioritized the security of the president over transparency with the public.
“The agency is not the agency of public affairs,” he said. “The agency is the agency of the Secret Service. Their number one job is to keep the president safe.”
In this case, the threat led the White House to purposely mislead reporters assigned to cover Mr. Trump, leaving journalists to report that he was traveling on board a plane that was being used as a decoy.
After The Times reported last month on the security shortcomings of the Qatari-donated jet amid the concerns about the threat from Iran, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, seemed to hint that subterfuge might have been involved in Mr. Trump’s departure from Turkey.
“As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats,” he said at the time.
The threat from Iran was not specific to the Qatari-donated jet, people familiar with the sequence of events said. Instead, Mr. Trump was being targeted on whatever airplane he was traveling on, as The Times has previously reported.
Mr. Trump was briefed on the threat while in Turkey, and a plan was soon put in place, with a small group of top government officials involved, including Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the official with knowledge of the deception plan said.
The Defense Department and a spokesman for General Caine referred all questions to the White House on Monday. The White House reissued Mr. Cheung’s statement from the week of the NATO summit, only without the clause mentioning “distraction and misdirection.” The U.S. officials with knowledge of the deception plan spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
When Mr. Trump arrived at the airport to leave Turkey, a camera that had been positioned beforehand captured him getting on the old Air Force One, and journalists traveling with him, rushing to board the plane through lower steps in the back, had only a glimpse of him. A pool report noted as the plane took off, “We have been advised to keep our window shades in the press cabin closed.”
The older Air Force One landed at 10:16 p.m. at the Mildenhall military base in England, a pool report said, with Mr. Trump stepping off it 40 minutes later. Before that, unbeknown to reporters, Mr. Trump was brought by vehicle from the third plane that he had arrived on to the older Air Force One, boarded it through a different entrance and strode down the step from the upper left-side door as he would typically do, according to the U.S. official.
He walked from there to the Qatari jet, as the small group of reporters who had traveled aboard the older jet watched. The president and the press pool then boarded the new plane to fly back to Washington.
When asked by reporters during that flight back to the United States about why they had flown on the old Air Force One to England, Mr. Trump claimed he had wanted the troops stationed at the U.K. base to see the new plane. When pressed on why the window blinds had been directed to be shut on the flight from Turkey, Mr. Trump said that he knew of no specific threat, but described himself as under constant siege from Iran.
“I’m number one on their list, before you,” he told the reporters. “But if I go, you go. Right?
Mr. Trump and a number of his advisers have faced threats from Iran for years, especially after Mr. Trump, during his first term, ordered the killing of a powerful Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
Mr. Trump’s advisers during the 2024 campaign privately told allies that they were given intelligence that Iran still hoped to harm Mr. Trump. That led to the occasional use of decoy planes during the campaign. His staff at times put the candidate aboard a secret jet, without alerting the media, while his staff flew his private plane. The Biden administration increased security for Mr. Trump that summer after new intelligence about plots to kill Mr. Trump; a short time later, he faced an unrelated assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania at an outdoor rally. There was a second unrelated attempt in September 2024.
The collective threats, which ranged from a prosecuted murder-for-hire plot by an Iranian proxy to the hacking of Trump campaign officials’ email and social media accounts, created a siege climate for the candidate and his aides. It led to fear, insularity and, at times, paranoia, that shaped how officials interacted with the Biden administration, which was responsible for allocating Secret Service resources, as well as with the media, and with other government officials.
After the Times reported about the security concerns in Turkey, and the fact that the Qatari jet lacked the same defensive capabilities as the older presidential aircraft, Mr. Trump was enraged by the leaks. The Justice Department issued subpoenas for grand jury testimony to the reporters who had been on the bylines of the stories, as well as some of their family members. Those subpoenas were withdrawn after a federal judge admonished federal prosecutors for the process involved.
Mr. Trump has continued to rage about information coming from his government that contradicts what he is telling the public, particularly about the war in Iran that he began on Feb. 28, according to multiple officials.
Katie Rogers, Erica L. Green and Doug Mills contributed reporting.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades. Contact him securely on Signal: @ericschmitt.36.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration."
Monday, August 10, 2026
Trump Shrugs Off A.I. and Data Center Concerns as Voters Grow Anxious - The New York Times
As Voters Grow Anxious Over A.I., Trump Shrugs Off the Concern
"The president and his top aides have been especially bullish about data centers, despite national blowback against the facilities.
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has started to rattle voters around the country, raising fears that they could be thrust from their jobs if the technology succeeds, or lose their retirement savings if the industry falters.
But for all of the emerging doubt and political blowback, there has been no sign of concern at the White House, where President Trump has generally maintained a much more sanguine view about the coming digital revolution.
To the administration, A.I. can do little wrong.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump and his top aides have dismissed the suggestion that widespread automation could carry real negative consequences for families, businesses and the broader U.S. economy. Even as the electorate grows uneasy about the technology — and the data centers that power it — the president has only hardened in his view that A.I. will supercharge everything from medical research to military action.
The political chasm between the president and the public has been most evident surrounding the red-hot issue of data centers, which Mr. Trump has defended as “Money Machines” even as opposition widens nationally over the facilities.
A small group of demonstrators interrupted one of Mr. Trump’s rallies in Michigan last month to demand an end to data center construction. That incident came on the heels of similar protests around the country, in a campaign organized by conservatives who otherwise support Mr. Trump’s politics.
“I think they are bullish about this technology,” said Michael Strain, the director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said of the administration’s approach.
Mr. Strain said he generally agreed with much of the president’s “general approach” in seeking to foster A.I., and that he believed the technology would benefit the economy and national security. But, he acknowledged, the White House seemed to be less interested in preparing for the possible downsides.
“It’s a potential vulnerability for the economy,” he said, “and one worth tracking and seeing how it develops.”
Mr. Trump may yet prove correct in his glowing assessment about A.I. But his support has contrasted starkly with the more measured views from economists and policymakers across the political spectrum. Even among those who see A.I. as the most significant technological leap in human history, there is a sense that a disruption of this magnitude rarely occurs without consequence — and that Washington needs to be more prepared for every scenario.
There is one view that A.I. can make workers significantly more productive and that the resulting gains could add significantly to global growth. Chasing that vision and the immense wealth that may accompany it, the largest technology companies, known as the “hyperscalers,” could spend as much as $5 trillion on A.I. infrastructure in the coming years, according to JP Morgan. That could require companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to generate significantly more revenue than they do now.
That has delighted Mr. Trump, who has sought in his second term to increase construction and manufacturing. But there is also great doubt among many experts that such an evolution is going to be frictionless.
At the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, economists including Erik Brynjolfsson, a widely cited expert on technology, have started trying to measure those early effects. In its latest update, published in July, the think tank reported a significant uptick in spending on A.I. infrastructure — but, for now, “no decisive evidence” of a grand transformation to the labor force and entire industries.
Mr. Brynjolfsson said that the capabilities of A.I. would improve rapidly in the coming years, which would have “profound implications on our economy, both in good ways but also potentially with some real risks.” The very concern prompted Mr. Brynjolfsson to help organize about 200 economists and A.I. experts earlier this year to issue a joint statement calling on government to “build the incentives, guardrails and institutions needed to steer A.I. in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”
Recognizing some of the risks, the White House last week readied a long-awaited planto monitor some A.I. models to ensure that they do not create security vulnerabilities. Developed in coordination with companies including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, it represented a departure from administration’s hands-off approach toward the new technology.
Otherwise, though, the White House has tried to position itself primarily as a cheerleader for A.I.
“The narrative for so long coming from government, prior to President Trump, has been so fixated on the negative impacts of this technology. Like of course people are skeptical,” Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said on a podcast hosted by Peter H. Diamandis, a technologist, which was published last week.
During the interview, Mr. Kratsios recalled attending an A.I. safety summit in the United Kingdom two years ago, which he said had focused on “what could go wrong.” That, he added, helped to crystallize the current problem facing the industry — and the administration’s rationale in sharing a more “positive” take about A.I. with the public.
“The only thing they’re hearing from politicians and from people in industry is that, oh, there’s going to be a bunch of job losses, and everything is dangerous,” he said, adding, “I think those are the things that get people worked up, and it shouldn’t surprise us that the P.R. is bad.”
The Trump administration has struck its most bullish note on data centers, the growth of which has served as a flashpoint in elections around the country.
Many cities and states have started to question the economic value of the facilities, which may support few long-term jobs once construction concludes, and the power, water and other resources they demand. The concern has prompted some policymakers to halt data center construction, including in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, enacted the first statewide moratorium in July.
In response, Mr. Trump lashed out on social media. Demanding a reversal to the policy, the president said the facilities would generate taxes and jobs that amounted to “LIQUID GOLD,” adding that data centers “are tremendous WINS for the States and Communities that are lucky enough to get them.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied the suit’s claims.
In an attempt to tamp down voters’ mounting concerns, Mr. Trump did broker an agreement earlier this year with technology companies that included those companies paying for needed electricity upgrades. But the pact, which is voluntary, came as the president appeared to doubt openly whether there was even an energy cost problem to begin with.
“They need some P.R. help,” he said at a March event, referring to the public relations image of data centers. “Because people think that if a data center goes in there, electricity prices are going to go up. And that’s not happening. It’s not going to happen.”
Lawmakers in 15 states nonetheless have considered such bans targeting data centers over the past year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which last updated its count in July. Last week, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat, also signed a new directive meant to protect residents from electricity price hikes from data centers, while Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, required new projects to submit to an energy audit.
Mr. Trump still appeared to criticize some of the moves. Singling out Texas, he told Punchbowl News in an interview published Friday that its actions were a “mistake,” adding of data centers: “It could be bigger than oil.”
The full-throated endorsement of data centers has increasingly put the president on the opposite side of his fellow conservatives, who have long been skeptical of the nation’s largest technology companies.
Among the most vocal is Humans First, an advocacy group led by Amy Kremer, a former Tea Party leader who helped to organize the Stop the Steal rally on Facebook after the 2020 presidential election. Ms. Kremer said she used A.I. every day and was not wholly opposed to it. But, she said, policymakers at all levels of government had failed to chart the future of the technology in a way that accounted for the public’s anxieties.
“People are very, very upset,” she said. “They feel like there’s a disconnect. They feel like no one is speaking for them.”
Ms. Kremer said her group helped to organize a day of protests against data centers in 42 states last month. She fretted that the nation’s largest technology companies had “bought their way” into Mr. Trump’s inner circle and had shaped some of his approach to the issue.
“I think the people around him definitely know of the backlash,” she said, “and I just hope that he understands what people are thinking and feeling.”
But the pushback has hardly appeared to rattle the public optimism of the administration. Speaking weeks after the conservatives’ protest, Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, still sought to downplay some of the national trepidation around A.I. and data centers.
“I don’t think anyone should be worried that a data center is going to be plopped on top of them,” he told Fox Business in late July, adding that the deals between tech companies and local communities around the facilities have been negotiated “pretty generously.”
“If you take a sleepy town that hasn’t really seen much in the last 20, 30 years, and put a data center there," Mr. Hassett later added, “then there are going to be a whole bunch of happy residents in that town.”
Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington."
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