We reported on the story of President Donald Trump leaving the regular Air Force One while he was in Turkey for the NATO summit. He was taken off that plane and put on another plane after concern about a possible threat.
Now the Secret Service's obligation is to protect the president, not the media. Everyone traveling with the president has to know that they could be at risk; it's part of the job. Yet the media were flipping out over not being told. But given how they then reported on the switch, it proved precisely why they shouldn't be told. If whoever poses a threat sees everyone getting off or hears a media report, then they know to adjust. Just reporting what was done with the cart is also potentially problematic, because that's another tactic for the president's safety that has now been exposed.
The usual Air Force One also still obviously has a lot of security and protection.
READ MORE: Powerful Security Move: Trump and Hegseth Fly Discreetly, As Rubio Takes Decoy Air Force One
The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman appeared on MS NOW on Jacob Soboroff's show and spoke about the plane incident. But if you notice the MS NOW graphic in the clip, you may see a big problem. Haberman has to correct Soboroff when he refers to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt being left on the original plane, when she wasn't even on the trip. Leavitt is shown in the graphic of people left on the plane.
Oooof.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 18, 2026
This weekend, MS NOW aired a completely incorrect graphic saying Karoline Leavitt was on plane on way back from NATO trip.
FACT CHECK: She didn’t even go on the trip. pic.twitter.com/lcM19lL2Xr
So how many times did MS NOW wrongly claim Leavitt was on the trip? Haberman caught them here, but what kind of research do they have that they came up with that? Oh, that's right, it's MS NOW, so that explains the problem.
Once again, you have a wild leftist story that isn't true that Haberman references and debunks: the rumor that being left on the plane was the reason Leavitt is leaving the job.
NewsBusters' Curtis Houck observed that the MS NOW PR X account did not apologize or address the issue, as they should have.
Notice NYT's Maggie Habberman corrected Jacob Soboroff live on air, but MS NOW won’t put out a tweet apologizing for the error from their PR account. pic.twitter.com/7ZtkCOqW2z
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 18, 2026
Then Leavitt weighed in and wrecked them: "More Fake News from MS Now and the libs online."
More Fake News from MS Now and the libs online. https://t.co/jIGvoftOEP
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) August 18, 2026
Good for her! How basic is information like that? And yet they didn't do it.
Leavitt has done a great job dealing with all of these characters with such great presence of mind and equanimity. She also did a wonderful thing by having new independent media in the briefings, so giving more people a voice and not just being stuck with the legacy media. She had to constantly deal with false stories like this, and she handled it well.
She's going to be hard to replace, which likely is why they haven't picked someone yet
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at RedState, we stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical Left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member