Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is not happy reporters and Cabinet officials remained on a plane as President Donald Trump took off on another secret plane for safety reasons.
Coons was interviewed on “CNN News Central” Thursday morning when he denounced the move made last month as president flew out of Turkey on a separate jet from the original one he boarded.
Coons said news reporters and Cabinet officials who remained on the original plane “should not have been put on a plane” at risk of a potential Iranian attack.
The Washington Post reported Monday the reason for the move was a threat of an attack from the Islamic Republic.
Trump was moved from the old Air Force One via a catering truck to a smaller Air Force C-32A plane before taking off from Ankara.
“I understand putting a priority on the president’s security, but frankly, this was just a despicable incident of disrespect for the press and for members of his own Cabinet,” Coons said. “They should have been allowed to disembark and to fly home another way, rather than taking off on the No. 1 target in the whole region.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly left Turkey on the old Air Force One.
Passengers also included Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, andthe press and other White House officials.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,along with White House aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta and Dan Scavino, flew with Trump in the smaller plane to London, CBS News reported Wednesday.
Rubio and Bessent are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the presidential line of succession.
On Tuesday, Trump said the switch was at the direction of Secret Service and military officials. He added the smaller Air Force plane he was on “was at greater risk.”
Coons didn't buy it, stating, regarding the White House and Cabinet officials who flew out on the old Air Force One, Trump “just isn’t that into” them.
“If you were Secretary Rubio or Secretary Bessent or [Stephen] Miller, how do they feel about having been left as decoys?” Coons said.
“Even if there was low confidence in the intelligence … it didn’t seem like an intelligent choice, to me, for the president to slink away in a catering truck, leaving key members of his Cabinet and the traveling press to take off in Air Force One,” he added later.