2026-08-11T16:25:01.281Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
从表面上看，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普上月离开土耳其前因伊朗的安全威胁秘密调换飞机的消息似乎并无争议——甚至带着几分谍战片式的酷感。
但这篇由《华盛顿邮报》周一独家披露、随后被CNN等多家媒体证实的报道，确实引发了一些非常实际的问题和质疑。
首先，我们先来梳理一下报道的基本情况。
上月已有报道称，出于安全顾虑，白宫取消了特朗普乘坐新“空军一号”（卡塔尔赠送的专机）返程的计划，转而使用旧专机。（特朗普最初称此举是为了让美军人员参观新专机。）旧专机的安全性能优于经过翻新的新专机。考虑到土耳其与伊朗接壤，这一防范措施本应合理。
而如今可以确认的是，特朗普先登上了老式专机，随后通过餐车秘密转移到了一架小型C-32A空军运输机上。他乘坐该机飞往英国，期间继续伪装，秘密重新登上老式“空军一号”，在镜头前下机后，再换乘卡塔尔赠送的专机返程回国。
这就引出了第一个问题。
特朗普和白宫撒谎——即便威胁 ostensibly 已经过去
采取这类措施保护总统是合理的——而且并非没有先例。但值得注意的是，即便明显的危险已经解除，特朗普和白宫仍在对此事撒谎。
前总统比尔·克林顿2000年前往巴基斯坦时就曾使用过诱饵飞机：一架带有明显美国标识的C-20先降落，随后克林顿乘坐一架无标识的C-20抵达。（美国官员担心克林顿的专机会被奥萨马·本·拉登等恐怖分子击落。）
但克林顿很快就从无标识飞机上下来，实际上向公众披露了这一伪装计划。据《华盛顿邮报》周二报道，克林顿白宫团队提前曾私下向白宫记者协会主席通报过此事。
相比之下，特朗普和白宫却一直假装他确实一直乘坐老式“空军一号”。
在从英国返回美国的后续航程中（当时特朗普已乘坐新专机），总统泛泛地谈到了专机可能面临安全隐患的可能性，但明确否认存在具体威胁。
“你是说没有安全顾虑？”一名记者问道。
“没错，没错。怎么会有呢？”特朗普回应道。
当被问及是否存在“其他任何问题”时，他说：“没有。”
当记者持续追问是否存在具体威胁时，特朗普多次回避。
“我一直都面临威胁，”特朗普说，“在你们之前，我就是他们的头号目标。但如果我要出行，你们也得去。”
一名民主党国家安全助手周二表示，八人帮（国会核心领导层小组）并未被通报这一事件，但同时指出，总统的行程并非国会深度参与管理的事务。不过该助手补充道：“即便不必通报事件细节，国会也应该了解这一威胁的存在。”
一名八人帮成员的共和党助手表示，他们无法就该小组的行动置评。
该计划将记者和工作人员当作诱饵——似乎将他们置于危险之中
这又引出了另一个棘手的问题。虽然为保护总统采取极端措施是可以理解的，但这一计划让包括记者和政府工作人员在内的许多人毫不知情地成为了诱饵，身处火线之中。
随之而来的问题是：是否有其他替代方案？比如让其他人乘坐其他飞机离开？为什么不告知记者？（有时这类信息可以在 embargo 条件下共享，即记者知晓内容但不得发布。当然，特朗普政府并不信任媒体。）最后，为老式专机采取了哪些保护措施？
“现在人们会质疑，另外两架747专机各自获得了怎样的安全保障——当时仍有代表美国媒体和白宫工作人员的人员搭乘该机飞行，”前特勤局特工罗伯特·麦克唐纳在CNN的《Elex Michaelson解读新闻》节目中说道。
美国国务卿马可·卢比奥周二无视了CNN关于政府是否将记者和工作人员置于危险境地的提问。
尽管伊朗具体威胁的细节仍有很多未公开，但这一威胁显然可信到需要临时调换专机，这一事实极大地削弱了特朗普所称伊朗军事能力已被摧毁的说法。
特朗普不仅如此宣称，他和国防部长皮特·赫格斯还特别提到伊朗据称没有击落飞机的能力。
赫格斯早在3月就表示，美国和以色列很快将“完全掌控伊朗上空”，拥有“不受挑战的领空”。
“我们的飞机 literally 可以飞越德黑兰和该国其他地区，他们根本无能为力，”特朗普在3月24日补充道。
特朗普还曾称伊朗“没有海军”“没有军队”“没有空军”“没有防空系统”。
当然，在这些言论发布后不久，伊朗就在4月初击落了两架美国战机。而认为伊朗有能力击落“空军一号”的说法，更直接地打脸了特朗普的上述主张。
“如果他们需要采取如此极端的措施保护总统，说明威胁程度极高，美国民众理应知道在这起特定事件中威胁确实存在，”奥巴马政府前白宫顾问戴维·阿克塞尔罗德周一在CNN的《Kaitlan Collins独家访谈》节目中说道。
这引发了更多关于“空军一号”以及有争议的记者传票的疑问
从更广泛的层面来看，这一事件让本就扑朔迷离的“空军一号”相关风波更加复杂，其中涉及安全顾虑以及白宫压制相关报道的努力——包括对《纽约时报》记者发出有争议的传票。
此前已有合理的质疑：最初不让特朗普乘坐卡塔尔赠送的新专机从土耳其返程的决定。如果这架飞机不如老式专机安全，那特朗普为什么还要乘坐它，尤其是在外国领空？这似乎表明，特朗普急于让这台备受追捧的新专机升空的意愿，可能导致了安全疏漏（这也是他一贯的行事风格）。
随后，政府采取了非同寻常的措施，传票传唤了报道称卡塔尔赠送的专机因安全顾虑被调换的《纽约时报》记者。政府声称这起事件涉及“有人通过泄露机密信息威胁国家安全”。但在法官明确表示对其论点持怀疑态度后，政府在两周后撤回了传票。
CNN还报道称，政府内部正在进行大规模内部调查，部分官员被要求交出手机。
这起事件无疑涉及国家安全问题。但这场追查泄密者的行动，有多少是为了避免特朗普坚持乘坐卡塔尔赠送专机的仓促且可能危险的决定引发尴尬？又或者，是为了避免披露将工作人员和记者当作诱饵的事实？
又或者，特朗普只是不愿承认伊朗拥有这样的军事能力。
CNN的泰德·巴雷特对此报道亦有贡献。
Why Trump’s secret Air Force One switcheroo is problematic
2026-08-11T16:25:01.281Z / CNN
On its surface, the news that President Donald Trump secretly switched planes before departing Turkey last month because of a security threat from Iran might seem non-controversial — and even kind of cool, in a cloak-and-dagger sort of way.
But the story — which was broken by the Washington Post late Monday and later confirmed by CNN and others — does raise some very real issues and questions.
First, let’s recap the basics of the reporting.
It was already reported last month that, due to security concerns, the White House had scrapped a return flight on the new Qatari-gifted plane that Trump uses as Air Force One in favor of the older plane. (Trump had initially claimed it was so US service members could tour the new plane.) The old plane has better security features than the retrofitted, new plane. And given Turkey borders Iran, that precaution would make sense.
It’s now clear that Trump boarded the legacy plane, then was secretly transferred via a catering truck to a smaller Air Force C-32A. He flew that to UK, where he kept up the ruse by covertly re-boarding the old Air Force One, deplaning for cameras and then got on the Qatari-gifted plane for the return flight home.
That brings up the first issue.
Trump and the White House lied — even after the threat had ostensibly passed
It’s legitimate — and not-unheard-of — for these kinds of measures to be taken to protect a president. But it’s notable that Trump and the White House kept lying about it even after the apparent danger had passed.
Then-President Bill Clinton used a decoy plane for a trip to Pakistan in 2000, arriving in an unmarked C-20 after a more conspicuously American-branded C-20 had landed. (US officials feared Clinton’s plane might be shot down by terrorists like Osama bin Laden.)
But Clinton soon got off the unmarked plane, effectively disclosing the ruse to the public. And the Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Clinton White House briefed the head of the White House Correspondents’ Association, off the record, ahead of time.
In contrast, Trump and the White House went on pretending like he had actually flown on the legacy Air Force One.
During a gaggle on the later leg from the UK back to the United States (when Trump was on the new plane), the president spoke broadly about the possibility that the plane could have faced security concerns. But he flatly denied there was a specific one.
“You’re saying there wasn’t a security concern?” a reporter asked.
“No. No. Why would there be?” Trump responded.
Asked if there were “any other issue,” he said: “No.”
When reporters kept pressing on whether there was a specific threat, Trump repeatedly deflected.
“Well, I have a threat all the time,” Trump said. “I’m number one on their list before you. But if I go, you go.”
A Democratic national security aide said Tuesday that the Gang of Eight, a group of congressional leaders, was not briefed on the episode, but noted that presidential movements are not something Congress gets deeply involved in managing. But, the aide added, “Congress should have been briefed on the threat if not the episode.”
A Republican aide to a member of the Gang of Eight said they could not comment on actions of the group.
The plan used reporters and staff as decoys — and seemingly put them in danger
And that gets at another dicey piece of this. While it’s understandable to take extensive measures to protect the president, this plan left many people — including reporters and administration staffers — on the legacy Air Force One as unwitting and unknowing decoys very much in the line of fire.
The questions from there are: Was there any alternative to that, such as allowing everyone else to fly out on other airplanes? Why were reporters not informed? (Sometimes such information can be shared on an embargoed basis, in which reporters have the information but can’t publish it. Of course, the Trump administration doesn’t trust the press.) And lastly, what precautions were taken to protect the legacy plane?
“There’s going to be questions now with respect to what security was provided for each of the other two 747s, where people were still flying on that plane representing the United States press, White House staff,” former Secret Service agent Robert McDonald said on CNN’s “The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ignored a question from CNN about whether the administration put reporters and staff at risk.
While there’s still a lot that’s not publicly known about the specific threat from Iran, the fact that it was apparently credible enough for this switcheroo sharply undercuts Trump’s claims that Iran’s military capabilities have been decimated.
Trump has not only claimed this, but he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have specifically cited Iran’s purported inability to shoot down aircraft.
Hegseth said back in March that the United States and Israel would soon have “complete control of Iranian skies” and “uncontested airspace.”
“We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country; they can’t do a thing about it,” Trump added March 24.
Trump also said that Iran had “no navy,” “no military,” “no air force” and “no anti-aircraft systems.”
Of course, shortly after all of these comments, Iran in early April managed to shoot down two US jets. But the idea that it could plausibly take down Air Force One even more sharply undercuts Trump’s claims.
“If they needed to take such extraordinary steps to protect the president because the threat level was so high, the American people deserved to know that the threat level was that high in this particular case,” former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod said Monday on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins.”
It prompts more questions about Air Force One and the controversial reporter subpoenas
On a broader level, this development thickens the plot on an already confusing saga involving Air Force One, security concerns and the White House’s efforts to tamp down that story — including by issuing controversial subpoenas to New York Times reporters.
There were already valid questions about the initial decision to not let Trump fly his Qatari-gifted plane back from Turkey. If the plane wasn’t as safe as the legacy plane, why was Trump flying it at all, particularly in foreign airspace? It suggested Trump’s desire to get the coveted new plane in the air might have led to cut corners (which is a theme with him).
Then the administration took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing the Times journalists who had reported that that Qatari-gifted jet was swapped out for security concerns. It claimed the situation involved someone “threatening national security by leaking classified information.” But the administration withdrew the subpoenas two weeks later, after a judge made clear he was skeptical about its argument.
CNN has also reported that there has been a sprawling internal investigation inside the administration, with some officials being asked to turn over their phones.
The story surely involves national security issues. But how much of this effort to root out leakers is also about avoiding embarrassment associated with Trump’s hasty and potentially dangerous decision to insist on flying his Qatari-gifted airplane? Or, potentially, about avoiding disclosing having used staffers and reporters as decoys?
Or maybe Trump just didn’t want to admit Iran had such capabilities.
CNN’s Ted Barrett contributed.
