Running for a third term as U.S. president in 2028? “Everyone asks me that. I would like to run. But the law is very strict about this,” Donald Trump said, speaking to reporters after returning from an event in Ohio. “Everyone asks me this question, they were even shouting at tonight’s event: ‘2028’,” he recounted in a video published by Fox News. “Everyone would like me to do it,” he added, while reiterating that “the law is very strict” regarding the two-term limit.

The plane change

Answering a question about the plan that, according to reports, was carried out last month to secretly move him from Turkey on a plane other than Air Force One after the NATO summit, Trump said: “I just do what they want me to do,” and “I rely on the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to take a different flight, a different plane, same security, but they wanted me to do it, so I did. I do what they tell me.”

According to leaks first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by other U.S. media, the tycoon allegedly boarded a secondary military aircraft in secret, hidden inside a catering truck. The plan was reportedly necessary because of an Iranian threat. “I suppose there was a threat,” Trump added, quoted online by CNN. “I didn’t ask much about it. I get a lot of threats.”

“I have a lot of threats you don’t know about,” he continued. “Every important president has a lot of threats; someone who doesn’t matter doesn’t get them, and I think I might be the most important president of all.” Trump said he was not worried, whatever happens. Regarding the plane he flew from Turkey, “it was at greater risk,” he noted, “because I think that plane would have been more likely to be targeted.”

NYT: Iran knew where Trump was staying in Ankara

According to two U.S. officials, the Iranian threat included the possibility of a surface-to-air missile against Air Force One and precise knowledge by the Iranians of where the president was staying in Ankara. The New York Times reports the threat emerged as the tycoon was preparing for his final day at the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8.

U.S. officials familiar with the threat said American intelligence gathered multiple sources of information and knew there was a specific threat of a surface-to-air missile against Air Force One, and that someone near the NATO summit had been seen with a portable missile. In addition, the officials said, the Iranians knew exactly where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the floor of the building.

Among those who traveled on the flight from which Trump was secretly disembarked in Turkey were, according to two U.S. officials cited by the NYT, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Stephen Miller, the president’s chief domestic policy advisor; and Steven Cheung, White House communications director.

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