Recent online speculation has linked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s decision to step down at the end of August to a dramatic security episode involving President Donald Trump’s departure from Turkey last month. The claim circulating on social media and in some overseas outlets suggests she was among those left aboard a decoy Air Force One while the president was secretly moved to another aircraft amid an Iranian threat. A closer look at the timeline and passenger details reported by major U.S. news organizations shows the assertion does not hold up.
Leavitt had welcomed her second child with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, in early May and remained on maternity leave through the NATO summit period. She did not resume full podium duties until July 16, more than a week after the July 8 departure from Ankara. During her absence, other senior officials filled in for press briefings, and she was not listed among the travelers accompanying the president on that trip.
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The Plane Switch in Ankara
On the evening of July 8, after the NATO leaders’ meeting in Turkey, Trump was seen boarding the legacy Air Force One in view of cameras. Intelligence had flagged a credible Iranian threat against him, prompting an unusual security measure. Minutes later, he and a small group of aides exited the aircraft via an elevated catering truck and transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A military jet. The original plane continued its flight as a decoy, carrying the call sign Air Force One while the president flew separately under tighter protection.
Karoline Leavitt will be leaving her role as White House Press Secretary at the end of the month, Donald Trump announces. pic.twitter.com/LRflSHUQ5h
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 12, 2026
Credible reporting from outlets including The Washington Post, CBS News, the BBC, and others has identified the main passengers on each aircraft. The decoy flight included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, White House communications director Steven Cheung, additional staff, and the traveling press pool. The secret flight carried Trump along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Dan Scavino, Walt Nauta, and Natalie Harp.
Karoline Leavitt’s name does not appear in any of these accounts. Some secondary reports and unverified social-media videos have claimed otherwise, but those assertions conflict with the passenger lists and the documented fact of her maternity leave.
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Resignation and the Family Explanation
Karoline Leavitt announced her departure in mid-August, stating that after returning from maternity leave she found she could not give her two young children the time and attention they needed while meeting the demands of the press secretary role. President Trump publicly accepted the decision and described her as continuing in an outside advisory capacity. No official statement or primary reporting has connected her exit to the Turkey episode. The timing of the announcement simply coincided with the public emergence of details about the plane switch, which fueled speculation among critics and online commentators.
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Security protocols of this kind are driven by Secret Service and military assessments rather than individual preferences. The decoy aircraft reportedly flew with fighter escort, and senior officials who remained aboard were aware of the arrangement in order to preserve continuity of government. Leavitt, still easing back into work after the birth of her daughter, was not part of the traveling party. The evidence available from established reporting therefore indicates she was not on the decoy plane—or the secret flight—during the July 8 operation.
