Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly left a press conference after a question about whether he “put Americans at risk” when he and President Donald Trump allowed reporters to fly on Air Force One when it was “under threat.”
It happened Tuesday after a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger in Washington.
“Mr. Secretary did you put Americans at risk by having them fly on Air Force One when it was under threat?” a CNN reporter asked Rubio who was standing next to Meinl-Reisinger.
Rubio kept a fake smile plastered on his face, ignored the question then turned and walked away.
Social Media Backlash
Social media erupted in anger calling Rubio names and comparing him to Trump.
“Obnoxious cowardly bastard,” a Threads user proclaimed.
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Another noted, “He’s learned well from the Liar-in-Chief!”
The former senator from Florida and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were both on the decoy plane after the NATO summit in Turkey last month. But they were the only two Trump administration officials on the flight who knew the president secretly had switched planes, according to news reporting on the incident.
This commenter responded with a pointed post, “Ducking the question just gives the media more fuel to keep digging. If there’s nothing to hide, a direct answer would put this rumor to bed a lot faster than staying quiet.”
One poster responded with a basic explanation of how elected officials are expected to act.
“It’s not acceptable for our representatives to not respond to us. That is the f–king job. That’s what they get paid for and that’s the job description. Working for the people and answering to the people. Never vote for a republican. Ever.”
Trump’s elaborate ruse to board Air Force One then sneak off by way of a catering truck to take a secret military flight to England occurred after a “credible” Iranian threat following the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, in early July.
Other White House staffers and administration officials were also on board the “decoy” Air Force One.
Among them White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf, Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Needham, and White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller among others, according to CBS News.
A day after Rubio ignored questions about whether he endangered American lives by letting the press, military officials, and others fly on the decoy plane, Miller also ignored questions about it.
Stephen Miller Dodges Question
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Miller during a press gaggle outside the White House on Wednesday whether he knew about the ploy to secretly remove Trump from the plane.
“Stephen, were you aware the president was not on Air force One on the flight back from Turkey?” Collins asked.
“Stephen did you know that you were on the plane the president was not on?” she repeated as Miller, like Rubio, ignored the question and quickly walked away.
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Trump didn’t make the secret flight alone. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino went with him.
After arriving at Mildenhall Air Base in England, Trump and cronies sneaked back on board Air Force One to deplane with the press and military personnel as usual.
The president flew into Turkey on July 7 for the summit in Ankara on July 8 aboard his new Air Force One luxury Boeing 747, a gift from Qatar’s royal family in 2025.
Trump used the luxury jet from Qatar for the first time to travel to the summit after spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars upgrading security on the jet.
But after the summit, The New York Times reported, threats from Iran and security concerns about the new plane caused Trump to switch back to an older model Air Force One with better security upgrades for the flight to England.
At the time Trump officials said the president wanted U.S. troops in England to see the new Air Force One before he took it home.
After the elaborate plot to secretly ferry Trump to the U.K., he flew back to the U.S. aboard his luxury Qatari jet.
