SECRET DECOY: Clinton-Era Briefing Reveals Similar Presidential Plane Swap 26 Years Before Trump Operation

A former White House correspondent has revealed details of a confidential briefing she received 26 years ago regarding a security operation that protected President Bill Clinton during a trip to Pakistan - an operation that shares similarities with an aircraft deception used to protect President Donald Trump from an Iranian assassination threat in Turkey last month.

Susan Page, who was president of the White House Correspondents' Association at the time, said Clinton administration officials privately briefed her before the president's March 2000 flight from India to Pakistan. The security plan involved sending a decoy aircraft into Islamabad while Clinton secretly arrived on a separate, unmarked plane. The decoy reportedly carried someone posing as the president. Page was informed in advance because officials recognized the security threat endangered not only Clinton but also members of the press traveling with him.

The disclosure emerges amid criticism from some White House journalists over the Trump administration's handling of a comparable operation during the president's visit to Turkey last month. Trump faced a specific Iranian assassination threat during the July 8 NATO summit in Ankara, prompting U.S. Security officials to secretly change his aircraft. Trump was seen boarding the Boeing 747 that had previously served as the presidential aircraft. Minutes later, he was secretly removed through a door on the opposite side and concealed inside a catering truck, then transferred to a smaller C-32A aircraft operating under a secret call sign. The original presidential aircraft departed with members of the White House press corps aboard, reportedly unaware that Trump was not on the aircraft.

The operation followed intelligence of a specific Iranian threat involving a possible surface-to-air missile attack, with a man carrying what appeared to be a shoulder-fired missile spotted near the summit. American intelligence also determined Iran knew Trump's location in Ankara, including his specific floor.

Some White House journalists have argued that unlike the Clinton administration's approach, the Trump White House left reporters uninformed despite the security threat. Journalist and historian Garrett Graff described the incident as crossing a "new Rubicon," Arguing the White House deliberately misrepresented the president's location while journalists remained aboard the decoy aircraft. The Clinton-era briefing show that presidential aircraft deception has precedent for serious security threats, though press handling differed significantly between the two operations.