Buzz Patterson Warns Ankara Plane-Swap Leak Endangers Trump and Future Presidents for Years
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 13
Buzz Patterson Warns Ankara Plane-Swap Leak Endangers Trump and Future Presidents for Years
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 13
Summary
Buzz Patterson, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who carried Bill Clinton’s nuclear football for 2 years, said public disclosures about Trump’s July 8 plane swap in Ankara could endanger presidents, crews and the press.
The warning followed new details that the decoy presidential 747 flying to Britain carried Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent and reporters under fighter-jet escort after Trump secretly switched to a C-32A via a catering truck.
Patterson said such deception is routine in high-threat travel, citing Clinton-era decoys, a 1997 Bosnia trip and a catering-truck maneuver that was never publicly reported at the time.
He urged a full leak investigation, arguing only a few insiders know these compartmentalized plans and that exposing the playbook could force a costly overhaul of presidential security.
Patterson said the issue goes beyond Trump’s final 2 years in office: if tactics become predictable, future presidents could lose the ability to make surprise visits or enter war zones safely.