Two members of President Donald Trump‘s cabinet remained aboard what was believed to be Air Force One in Turkey last month, aware that Trump himself had already slipped away to board a completely different plane. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stayed on the original aircraft, which everyone assumed was carrying the president. In reality, Trump had quietly exited before that flight ever took off, moving instead to a separate plane arranged over security concerns tied to Iran.

The switch took place on July 8. Trump had initially boarded Air Force One alongside both officials and members of the press, just as usual. But before departure, he slipped away on a catering truck and was secretly driven to a military aircraft instead. Technically, the name “Air Force One” refers to whichever plane the president happens to be on at the time, so once Trump left, the original aircraft kept using that call sign and effectively became a decoy.

Under that line of succession, Vice President JD Vance would be first to take over if the president died or became incapacitated. After him comes the Speaker of the House, then the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of State is next in line, followed by the Treasury Secretary. By keeping Rubio and Bessent on separate aircraft from Trump, officials ensured that a single incident couldn’t wipe out the top of that chain all at once.

Also staying behind on the original plane were White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. Meanwhile, the second aircraft that ultimately carried Trump out of Ankara reportedly also had Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on board, according to US media reports.

As for what exactly prompted the added precaution, Trump didn’t offer specifics. He simply noted that he receives a lot of threats and suggested that comes with the territory for any president making major decisions. “Any consequential president has a lot of threats,” he said.