Trump says his plane faced 'greater risk' in secret flight change

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he secretly switched planes in ‌Türkiye last month at the direction of the US Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One.

Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military ​plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, US media ​reported.

The White House did not disclose the change and it remained a secret until the Washington Post first reported it on Monday. Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump's aides and ​journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president.

"I think actually the ​plane that I flew on was at greater risk," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for."

After a day of social media ​memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck, the US president said he was following the direction of the Secret Service, the agency that protects ‌the president.

"Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military," Trump said.

"I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats," Trump said.

The White House said at the time that ​the president was flying aboard ​Air Force One from Türkiye to Britain. But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he left it in secret via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft for the flight to ​Britain, the Washington Post said on Monday, quoting unnamed sources.

Trump had taken a newly renovated ​Qatari-donated jet to Ankara for the NATO summit but unexpectedly announced he would use an older Air Force One when departing the country, a move that prompted questions about the newer plane's security.

The trip to NATO was the first international travel for ​the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost ​and security, and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Türkiye.