Saman ShafiqUSA TODAY
Sept. 1, 2026, 2:05 p.m. ET
A new documentary detailing President Donald Trump’s secret transfer from Air Force One to another military aircraft in Turkey is coming to Netflix.
“Instadocs: The Decoy Plane” by showrunner Steve Yaccino unpacks the July 8 incident “through the eyes of the traveling press corps with firsthand accounts” from those on board, including The Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe, who was part of the reporting team that first broke the story
“Beyond showing the lengths the Secret Service will go to protect the president, this installment reveals the cost of that mission: to get him home safely, a plane full of reporters and the public they answer to were left flying blind,” the streamer added.
Instadocs is Netflix’s new “quick-turn documentary series that moves at the speed of the story and arrives at the height of the conversation.” The Decoy Plane is the third installment in the series after “Instadocs: Alex Murdaugh, Unconvicted” and “Instadocs: The Prediction Games.”
How did Trump switch plane?
Trump secretly took off from Turkey in July on a military aircraft after being transferred in a catering truck typically used on the tarmac to deliver food and beverages to airplanes, The Washington Post reported. At the time, the White House said the president was aboard the Qatar-gifted Air Force One, a step taken because of security threats from Iran. He flew on that plane from Turkey to the Royal Air Force Mildenhall U.S. Air Force Base in Suffolk, England, and is believed to have switched back to the Qatari jet, a Boeing 747-B, before he flew from England to Joint Base Andrews near Washington, DC.
The ruse was a ploy designed to protect the president amid a possible threat to his safety on his trip to Turkey for a NATO summit.
“It’s up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do. I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump later told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Aug. 11. “They wanted me to go on a different plane, a different plane, uh, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it.”
A handful of people, including Trump aide Natalie Harp and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeseth, accompanied Trump, according to the New York Times; meanwhile, other top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adviser Stephen Miller, former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and reporters traveling with the president, remained on what became a “decoy” plane.
Who will be in ‘Instadocs: The Decoy Plane’?
Netflix said the documentary features interviews with the following:
- Reuters White House reporter Gram Slattery
- Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon
- MS NOW investigative reporter Carol Leonnig
- The Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe
- Former Secret Service agent Robert McDonald
- Former Air Force One crew member Wanda Joell
Watch ‘Instadocs: The Decoy Plane’ trailer
When is the ‘Instadocs: The Decoy Plane’ releasing?
The docuseries is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on Friday, Sept. 4. New content is typically available on the streaming service at 3 a.m. ET / midnight PT.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
