WASHINGTON (AP) — The two most senior members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane following an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
The official, who was briefed on the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of presidential travel, said Rubio was aware of the switch and details of the threat behind it but could or would not say why he had stayed on the plane. The official said Bessent was likely aware but did not know for sure.
The official, however, noted that security precautions for the president — especially one who has been the target of several assassination attempts — are more robust than those for even top members of the Cabinet.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the secretaries of State and Treasury follow the vice president and the highest ranking member of each chamber of Congress in the presidential line of succession.
Trump had flown to the annual gathering of NATO country leaders in Ankara, Turkey, in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.
The president at the time said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some U.S. troops based in eastern England a chance to check out the new Air Force One.
The Washington Post reported this week that Trump wasn’t on the old Air Force One on the return flight from Turkey and that he instead was smuggled onto another jet via a catering cart to avoid a possible Iranian assassination plot. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington.
The New York Times and CBS News had reported last month that intelligence officials had raised concerns about a potential attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions and the decision not to use the newly inaugurated aircraft gifted to Trump by Qatar for the first leg of Trump’s trip home from Ankara.
Trump acknowledged the transfer late Tuesday.
“It’s only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it, I do what they say.”
President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Catering trucks are parked at Air Force One on the tarmac as the motorcade carrying U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to depart following the NATO summit at Ankara International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
MEDINACELI, Spain (AP) — Millions of people crowded cloudless cities and towns in Spain on Wednesday in search of the best views of a total solar eclipse, when the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth briefly plunged parts of the planet into darkness.
The crowds brought lawn chairs and umbrellas as they eagerly awaited the celestial spectacle, which began early in the evening. As the sky darkened, gradually at first and then quickly, people broke into applause and cheered. It was the country's first total solar eclipse in more than a century.
“It’s simply impossible to imagine,” Rosa Celiberti, a language teacher who watched from Medinaceli, a Roman-era hilltop town in northeast Spain, said with tears in her eyes. “No matter how many photos or videos you’ve seen, nothing comes even close to what it actually feels like."
Across a wide band of northern and central Spain and Portugal, millions of people enjoyed some of mainland Europe's best views of the eclipse. It also passed over slivers of Greenland and Iceland.
Totality — when the moon completely covers the sun’s light — was expected to last less than 2½ minutes, reaching its maximum duration off Iceland’s west coast. By the time it got to a small patch of Portugal and then to Spain, just before sunset, totality dwindled to a minute or so. The total eclipse then ended over the Mediterranean.
The eclipse was expected to draw at least a half-million additional visitors, Spanish authorities said. Demand for hotel rooms along the path of totality, including in the northern cities of A Coruña, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, soared.
The event unfolded against the backdrop of scorching summer temperatures and wildfires, and Spanish officials rolled out a large public safety campaign.
Temperatures across much of Spain climbed above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in many areas where the eclipse was observed. Some 350 official viewing sites were set up across the sparsely populated interior, and more than 33,500 law enforcement officers were deployed to observation areas and access points, the Interior Ministry said.
Only weeks ago, the most destructive wildfire in Spanish history devoured 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Ávila, in central Spain. Several smaller wildfires remain active elsewhere in southern and central parts of the country.
In Reykjavik, clouds did not prevent hundreds of people from gathering in bright raincoats in front of the landmark Hallgrímskirkja church as the skies darkened.
With rain falling, the disk of the sun was barely perceptible and then, suddenly, the lights went out. Only the glow of phones held aloft could be seen.
The crowd cheered the darkness as it rained harder and roared even louder when the first light returned. They did not wait to watch the remainder of the partial eclipse and quickly cleared out of the square.
Special eclipse glasses were essential for safe viewing, even if only a sliver of the sun remained visible. The glasses are made with special filters that block solar radiation that can damage the eyes.
For months, supermarkets, department stores, museums and planetariums across Spain had sold or distributed the glasses, with many pharmacies running out of stock ahead of Wednesday.
On Tuesday evening in downtown Madrid, a long line formed outside a photo shop where a sign read, “We carry eclipse glasses.”
One woman emerged triumphantly and reassured those waiting: “He has boxes and boxes of them!”
Sverre Rud, captain of the MS Spitsbergen, was circling the waters of Rypefjord in eastern Greenland trying to make sure he was perfectly positioned for his 126 passengers to view the spectacle. All day, people came up to Rud to ask if he had nailed the right spot, with no clouds.
“I will do my best," Rud said. “I will pull out my superman powers."
The eclipse may have been startling for the passengers, who had been experiencing 24 hours of daylight on a 17-day cruise in locations mostly north of the Arctic Circle.
Suddenly, for two minutes it was dark.
Even so, the mood on the polar ship had been pure anticipation.
“Everyone is very enthusiastic,” Rud said. “When we were down for breakfast earlier, it was almost like a little bit of a Christmas Eve feeling here."
Rooms in Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, averaged more than $1,000 for Wednesday night as Icelanders prepared for their first total solar eclipse since 1954 and the first visible from the capital since 1433.
Prices were roughly double 2025 rates, according to data group Lighthouse Intelligence. Many tourists made bookings years in advance. But cloudy skies prevailed across much of the island.
Authorities expected up to 20,000 additional overseas visitors during an already busy peak tourist period. Iceland is home to fewer than 400,000 people.
The 70-room Hotel Keflavík in the Reykjanesbaer municipality was fully booked, with guests hoping to see around one minute and 45 seconds of totality.
“Eclipse time, of course, has been very demanding, and many people came to us early, like last year,” said Steinþór Jónsson, the hotel's owner and manager.
Jónsson said he had seen nothing like it since 1986, the year the hotel opened, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held a summit in Reykjavík.
“When I opened the hotel, we had Reagan and Gorbachev meeting. It was very hectic here,” he said with a smile. “Besides Reagan and Gorbachev, the eclipse is the biggest.”
Across Britain, where the sun was more than 90% obscured, people flocked to hilltop parks and anywhere with an open view of the sky to see the best eclipse since 1999.
In Greenwich Park, with views of the River Thames and central London, the sky turned an eerie gray as a sliver of light sat atop the moon like a hat.
Veronica Orozco popped open a bottle of champagne to share with neighbors as she witnessed the second eclipse of her life.
“I was in Venezuela and I was young and I thought that the sun would not come back. My dad said, ‘It is science, of course it will come back,’” she recalled. “Now sitting here at the age of 41, it is still magical.”
Aja Lilit, who turned 24 on Tuesday, said the eclipse was like a “birthday present from the universe.”
She said the rare event made her think of how small she was at a “cosmic level.”
Associated Press journalists Teresa Medrano in Madrid; Danica Kirka and Brian Melley in London; Marco Di Marco in Reykjavik, Iceland; and James Brooks in Snæfellsnes, Iceland, contributed.
A solar eclipse is seen over a Virgin Maria church in Vidigulfo, near Pavia, northern Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
A partial solar eclipse is seen above the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The Hallgrímskirkja church is seen in the dark during a total solar eclipse on a cloudy day in Reykjavik, Iceland, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
This combination photo shows the sequence of the moon covering the sun in a total solar eclipse seen from Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
This photo combo shows the sequence of a total solar eclipse seen from Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A beachgoer wearing special eclipse glasses looks up during the beginning phase of a solar eclipse at Puerto de Sagunto beach near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
A member of the "Los Taraos" amateur astrophotography group, sets up his camera to shoot a total solar eclipse in Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Mario Garrido, a member of the "Los Taraos" amateur astrophotography group, waits to shoot a total solar eclipse in Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A total solar eclipse is seen from Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Beachgoers gather before a total solar eclipse set to begin around sunset, at Puerto de Sagunto beach near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Members of the "Los Taraos" amateur astrophotography group, set up cameras to shoot a total solar eclipse in Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A family from Slovenia watches as the moon moves in front of the sun during a total solar eclipse in Palencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Members of the "Los Taraos" amateur astrophotography group, set up cameras to shoot a total solar eclipse in Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Members of the "Los Taraos" amateur astrophotography group, set up cameras to shoot a total solar eclipse in Berlanga de Duero, central Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A woman wears special eclipse glasses, as beachgoers gather before a total solar eclipse which is set to begin around sunset, at a beach near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
A man wears special eclipse glasses, as beachgoers gather before a total solar eclipse set to begin around sunset, at a beach near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
People use solar eclipse glasses to look up at the sun ahead of a solar eclipse Reykjavik, Iceland, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
FILE -A total solar eclipse is seen from Arlington, Texas, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Special protective glasses for viewing the sun are stored in a cardboard box at the Hamburg Planetarium on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 in Hamburg, Germany. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)
Jana Timm is holds four pairs of special solar viewing glasses that she bought at the Hamburg Planetarium to safely observe the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 in Hamburg, Germany. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)
A woman wears safety goggles, as she prepares to watch the partial solar eclipse on the SAYAQ Adventure Tower in Munich's Olympic Park, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 in Munich, Germany. (Felix Hörhager/dpa via AP)
