Former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Kosovo and walked through the capital city of Pristina surrounded by thousands of cheering citizens.

Hmmm.

Surrounded by thousands of people?

Wow.

I wonder why Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, George W Bush, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-il, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump can't do that?

Besides being deceased or just brain dead, of course. 😄

In other words, they have admitted that Iran's military capabilities have not been eliminated! 😀

On 8/13/2026 at 7:21 AM, Smokey and the Bandit said:

No, you seem to have missed the point.

The suggestion that the White House should have disembarked the press pool to buy commercial tickets during an active security threat ignores basic military doctrine and operational security.

When the Secret Service and Department of Defense identify an imminent threat, their absolute priority is tactical deception and immediate extraction.

Instructing journalists to leave the aircraft and scatter into an international terminal would have alerted foreign intelligence services that a covert departure was underway, compromising the operation and placing the entire delegation at severe risk.

Air Force One operates under strict Department of Defense transport protocols, not commercial airline logistics.

In high-threat environments, security details routinely deploy decoy aircraft and immediate departure sequences to clear hostile airspace, a standard protocol utilized across administrations, including by Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden during covert travel to high-risk zones.

The Secret Service acts on military containment mandates to neutralize targeted threats, not retail travel arrangements.

By federal law (18 U.S.C. 3056), the Secret Service's top priority is absolute protection of the President of the United States.

When a credible threat emerges, operational protocol dictates that every action, including movement, timing, transport logistics, and communication, is subordinate to keeping the Commander-in-Chief safe and moving them out of danger immediately. Everyone else on board, including staff and press, is managed under that singular security mandate.

This priority is rooted in both statute (the protective mandate under 18 U.S.C. § 3056) and long-standing doctrine. In these moments, the POTUS is not treated as one passenger among many , he is the sole protectee whose safety overrides all other concerns.

A courageous and honorable President, which Trump is not, would have shown concern for the decoys.

Can anyone imagine JFK pulling a cowardly Trump retreat, even if the actual intel---not the Israeli lie---showed a truly credible threat (an operation to take out AFi would be sizeable, and either agency assets of NSA eavesdropping would have had some indication, or perhaps MI6, the Germans, the Aussies and other Five Eyes Members. Israel lied, as they need Trump ready to keep putting other Americans in harm's way). Even Bush II would likely have done it differently, as he is a man, not a childish coward. Reagan, too, would have done the honorable thing, telling the Secret Service to calm down.

Trump could have been whisked away, and once out of Turkish airspace, the passengers on the decoy plane could have been informed and allowed to make other arrangements. That would have been the decent thing to do, but Trump has no decency.

Trump slipped away with a tiny inner circle

Natalie Harp

According to The Washington Post, Trump was moved from the modified Boeing 747 onto a military C-32A, a Boeing 757 variant, for the flight to RAF Mildenhall. Only four staff members accompanied him: Dan Scavino, Walt Nauta, Natalie Harp and, according to the account, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Harp, 34, is a close aide nicknamed Trump’s “human printer” because she supplies him with large-format printouts of news stories and social media posts. Her brother, from whom she is estranged, has previously described her relationship with Trump as “unhealthy”.

Senior officials and reporters stayed behind

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior officials remained on the 747 alongside the 13-member White House press pool.

That aircraft continued under the Air Force One call sign while Trump’s smaller plane followed under the call sign “REACH 88”. The arrangement was reportedly designed to confuse potential attackers tracking the president.

The decoy was built around a terrifying threat

US intelligence had warned of potential Iranian attacks involving surface-to-air or shoulder-fired missiles. The security concerns were serious enough for Trump to avoid a newer aircraft that lacked missile-defence systems.

Yet the decision to move him onto another plane while leaving most officials and journalists behind has raised an uncomfortable question: was the larger aircraft deliberately made a target?

Trump says he was at greater risk

Trump rejected the suggestion that others had been placed in greater danger. He said the aircraft he travelled on was actually more likely to be targeted and insisted the Secret Service had directed the switch.

“I just follow what they like to do,” Trump said, arguing that both aircraft offered equivalent protection.

Trump took aide whose kin called relationship 'unhealthy' on jet swap

Only four staff members accompanied him

That's a 25% chance of having to change the Boss's diapers. Not good.

2 hours ago, Wingate said:

A courageous and honorable President, which Trump is not, would have shown concern for the decoys.

Can anyone imagine JFK pulling a cowardly Trump retreat, even if the actual intel---not the Israeli lie---showed a truly credible threat (an operation to take out AFi would be sizeable, and either agency assets of NSA eavesdropping would have had some indication, or perhaps MI6, the Germans, the Aussies and other Five Eyes Members. Israel lied, as they need Trump ready to keep putting other Americans in harm's way). Even Bush II would likely have done it differently, as he is a man, not a childish coward. Reagan, too, would have done the honorable thing, telling the Secret Service to calm down.

Trump could have been whisked away, and once out of Turkish airspace, the passengers on the decoy plane could have been informed and allowed to make other arrangements. That would have been the decent thing to do, but Trump has no decency.

Again, you are showing your complete lack of understanding of how things work, regarding the security of the President.

Do you really think the Secret Service are there for show and President Trump can do anything he wants regarding security?

Arguing or even suggesting that a President should override Secret Service directives out of chivalry completely misinterprets executive security doctrine, which prioritizes Continuity of Government over personal safety.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3056, the Secret Service holds non-negotiable, statutory authority over the physical safety of the Commander-in-Chief.

In an active threat scenario, tactical maneuvers—including mid-air diversions and the operational use of decoy aircraft—are executed unilaterally by the Special Agent in Charge to safeguard executive authority and protect nuclear command structures.

Expecting a President to overrule these protocols to prevent logistical inconvenience for support staff or media/press pool on a decoy flight is an operational impossibility that would severely compromise national security.

Historical precedent confirms that past presidents consistently deferred to protective details during active security events.

On September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was repeatedly denied an immediate return to Washington by security officials, while President Ronald Reagan strictly adhered to heightened Secret Service protocols following his 1981 assassination attempt.

Multiple Prersidents, Bill Clinton (2000), George W. Bush (2003), Barack Obama (2010), Joe Biden (2023), have faced tensions with security details over travel constraints, and every modern administration relies on identical decoy and secrecy protocols when facing threats.

Decoy transports and tactical shadow flights remain SOP's across all administrations to obscure the principal asset's movements.

Criticizing compliance with emergency extractions confuses personal bravado with the precise, non-negotiable logic required to secure the executive branch.

I know you dislike President Trump and that's fine, but do try and show a modicum of common sense!

On 8/13/2026 at 4:22 PM, mikeymike100 said:

Indeed and its their number one priority to make sure he remains safe!

I don't understand why some of the posters on this thread don't understand that!

I think most do understand the mission of the secret service to protect a president were folks are having issues is he obviously didn’t give a rats behind about the others safety…..trump being what he is it’s not surprising.it’s also not an excuse.

14 hours ago, Tug said:

I think most do understand the mission of the secret service to protect a president were folks are having issues is he obviously didn’t give a rats behind about the others safety…..trump being what he is it’s not surprising.it’s also not an excuse.

When a threat occurs the President doesn't get to choose what happens, it's taken out of his hands.

He doesn't have a say in who does what, the secret service control everything!

16 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Only four staff members accompanied him

That's a 25% chance of having to change the Boss's diapers. Not good.

Grow up!

Reporting confirmed that the key civilian staff who boarded the catering vehicle with Trump included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Executive Assistant Natalie Harp, and Director of Oval Office Operations Walt Nauta. The military aide carrying the satchel/football moved as part of the essential Secret Service/military protective detail accompanying the President across the tarmac.

15 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Again, you are showing your complete lack of understanding of how things work, regarding the security of the President.

Do you really think the Secret Service are there for show and President Trump can do anything he wants regarding security?

Arguing or even suggesting that a President should override Secret Service directives out of chivalry completely misinterprets executive security doctrine, which prioritizes Continuity of Government over personal safety.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3056, the Secret Service holds non-negotiable, statutory authority over the physical safety of the Commander-in-Chief.

In an active threat scenario, tactical maneuvers—including mid-air diversions and the operational use of decoy aircraft—are executed unilaterally by the Special Agent in Charge to safeguard executive authority and protect nuclear command structures.

Expecting a President to overrule these protocols to prevent logistical inconvenience for support staff or media/press pool on a decoy flight is an operational impossibility that would severely compromise national security.

Historical precedent confirms that past presidents consistently deferred to protective details during active security events.

On September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was repeatedly denied an immediate return to Washington by security officials, while President Ronald Reagan strictly adhered to heightened Secret Service protocols following his 1981 assassination attempt.

Multiple Prersidents, Bill Clinton (2000), George W. Bush (2003), Barack Obama (2010), Joe Biden (2023), have faced tensions with security details over travel constraints, and every modern administration relies on identical decoy and secrecy protocols when facing threats.

Decoy transports and tactical shadow flights remain SOP's across all administrations to obscure the principal asset's movements.

Criticizing compliance with emergency extractions confuses personal bravado with the precise, non-negotiable logic required to secure the executive branch.

I know you dislike President Trump and that's fine, but do try and show a modicum of common sense!

Well said and clear as crystal!!