AILSA CHANG, HOST:
There is a blockbuster report from The Washington Post that says security officials were so concerned about President Trump's safety that they smuggled him off of Air Force One and onto another plane. Now, NPR has not independently confirmed all the details, but the idea that White House staff and members of the press were left to unknowingly fly on a decoy plane is a breach of protocol and of public trust. And we are fortunate to have a journalist here at NPR with an intimate understanding of how high-risk presidential travel is normally handled. NPR senior political correspondent Tamara Keith joins us now. Hi, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hello, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hello. OK, can you just walk us through first what are the basic facts here?
KEITH: Yeah. This happened last month as President Trump was leaving the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. He had flown there on the new Qatari Air Force One, which is luxurious...
CHANG: Right.
KEITH: ...But was rushed into service and doesn't have all the security features of the older purpose-built Air Force Ones. Mid-trip, hostilities with Iran flared back up. That raised the threat level. So just before he was supposed to leave, Trump announced he was sending the new Air Force One ahead so U.S. troops at a base in the U.K. could admire it, which made no sense. So then with cameras rolling, President Trump boarded the old Air Force One, waved from the top of the stairs as usual. The Washington Post reports he was then smuggled off the plane in a catering truck. Journalists and White House aides who were left on what turned out to be a decoy plane were firmly instructed to keep their window shades lowered for the whole flight.
CHANG: Wow.
KEITH: Then at the base in the U.K., out of range of Iran, Trump and the press pool all got back on the new Air Force One, and Trump never let on.
Were you aware of any credible threat by Iran against Air Force One?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I have a threat (ph) all the time. I'm No. 1 on their list, before you. But if I go, you go, right?
KEITH: But was there a specific threat today (ph)?
TRUMP: So perhaps someday, you want to change professions.
CHANG: OK, interesting choice of words there. What did the White House say at the time?
KEITH: Yeah, with hindsight being 20/20, it's pretty remarkable to look back at the statement the White House put out that day from Communications Director Steven Cheung. Quote, "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." Little did we know just how much distraction and misdirection was hidden in plain sight.
CHANG: Apparently - I mean, I have to ask you this, Tam, because you covered the White House for, like, a dozen years. You were also president of the White House Correspondents' Association in 2023. So you were personally involved in planning the press coverage of President Biden's secret trip to Ukraine, right? And that's why I feel like you have a really good vantage point into this. How does all of this normally work? Like, is misdirection common?
KEITH: Yes and no - take Biden's trip to Kyiv. Two journalists were brought along to witness his perilous train ride to the Ukrainian capital. Everyone was sworn to secrecy. When I was brought in for planning, they even made me take off my Apple Watch.
CHANG: Wow.
KEITH: There's always been a level of cooperation between the press and the White House to make sure that the president's movements are independently covered. But Trump and his team ditched the press entirely and have gone to great lengths to mislead the press and the public long after the immediate danger had passed. The Justice Department even sent FBI agents to serve subpoenas at the homes of journalists who had reported details of why Trump hadn't left Ankara on the new plane.
CHANG: Right. And just explain for all of this - for all of us why all of this matters.
KEITH: White House journalists traveling with the president actually serve a function for the continuity of government as independent witnesses, so the American people don't just have to take the government's word for it.
CHANG: That is NPR's Tamara Keith. Thank you, Tam.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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