Bill Clinton Used a Covert Plane-Change Maneuver Like Trump Back in 2000, Reporter Says, but There Was One Key Difference

Ingrid VasquezThu, August 13, 2026 at 12:19 AM UTC

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Bill Clinton, Donald TrumpCredit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty -

Reporter Susan Page revealed details of a covert plane-switch maneuver during Bill Clinton’s 2000 trip to Pakistan

A decoy Air Force One was used to distract the media while Clinton landed on an unmarked plane for security reasons, Page told The Washington Post

She shared her account after Trump confirmed a similar plane switch during his recent trip to Turkey for the NATO Summit

Former President Bill Clinton used a covert plane-change maneuver in 2000, as President Donald Trump did when flying out of Turkey in July, but a reporter claims there was one key difference.

Susan Page recalled to The Washington Post Clinton’s March 2000 flight from India to Pakistan, during which she worked as a White House reporter for USA Today and served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

A decoy jet, appearing to bear the markings of Air Force One, was used for the trip to land in front of the media. A Secret Service agent resembling Clinton emerged from the aircraft while the then-president disembarked from an unmarked plane.

Bill Clinton deboards a plane March, 25, 2000Credit: STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP via Getty

Page told the Post that at the time she was summoned to an off-the-record conversation in which the White House Press and security officials told her about the secret operation.

She said she was told “the extraordinary security procedures” were taken “because of the dangers in flying there,” which she said threatened Clinton and the journalists on the trip.

“I haven’t spoken about this episode before, because of the off-the-record ground rules of that discussion,” Page told the Post. “But since more than a quarter-century has passed — and since the ruse became evident as soon as President Clinton disembarked in Pakistan — I think it’s OK for me to relay it now.”

Page’s public recollection of the trip comes a day after Trump confirmed that he switched planes while flying out of Turkey last month, per a previous report from the Post.

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President Donald Trump returns to Joint Base Andrews on July 09, 2026 in Washington, DC.Credit: Win McNamee/Getty

Trump, who was in the country for the 2026 NATO Summit, boarded the former Air Force One in view of television cameras before reportedly hiding in an airport catering truck to be taken to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A, the outlet reported.

The Trump administration claimed that the 80-year-old had traveled from Turkey aboard the former Air Force One.

Unlike Clinton’s incident, in which Page said White House press and security told her about his plane change, Trump’s staff and press corps were not aware of his switch. Some staffers who were on Air Force One believed Trump was still on the plane with them, the Post reported, citing material reviewed by them, as well as a U.S. official familiar with the operation and somebody with knowledge of Trump’s travel plans.

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While speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, Aug. 11, Trump explained that he had to do what he was told when it came to switching planes, NBC News and the BBC reported.

“I guess there was a threat out there,” he said, per the BBC. “I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about.”

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Breaking”