来自唐纳德·特朗普总统政府内部的一连串泄密，正在揭示他乘坐一架卡塔尔赠送的飞机前往北约峰会的相关情况，并引发外界对官方叙事的质疑。总统出行使用外国政府提供的飞机本身就极不寻常，因为在任总统通常乘坐由美国空军维护和保护的军用飞机。

The New Republic 的 Greg Sargent 周四接受媒体评论人士 Margaret Sullivan 采访时指出，周三发布的报道披露，总统在所谓伊朗威胁出现时，把关键内阁成员和工作人员留在身后作为诱饵。周三晚些时候又有报道称，美国情报机构从一开始就并未完全采信这项威胁评估。

这一事件起于特朗普被告知自己面临来自伊朗的可信生命威胁。鉴于土耳其与伊朗接壤 350 英里，政府设计了一项方案，将总统藏在一辆餐饮车里，再转移到国务卿 Pete Hegseth 所乘坐的飞机上。

Sargent 说：“Now new leaks from inside the administration are making this whole affair look considerably darker.”

白宫目前正在处理泄露信息带来的后果，由幕僚长和 FBI 局长牵头展开调查。周三，外界披露了诱饵飞机上的人员：总统把国务卿 Marco Rubio 留在了身后，而飞机上的媒体记者在不知情的情况下也处于暴露状态。按照白宫长期以来的惯例，由轮换记者组成的 traveling press pool 会始终随总统同行，以确保对这位总司令活动有持续的公开记录。

周三晚些时候，Washington Post 报道称，CIA 并未接受这份源自以色列的情报。一名官员称，关于特朗普生命安全受到威胁的说法是“Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence.” 这一披露表明，一项重大的总统安保决策是由美国机构认为不可靠的外来情报所推动，也进一步引发了外界对威胁信息在被采取行动前如何评估的审视。

一名美国官员在给 Post 的声明中表示：“As the President has said, he has faced numerous threats on his life, including ones from Iran, and every measure is taken to ensure his safety.” “The United States Secret Service’s core mission is protecting the President, which they achieved.”

Sargent 解释说，特朗普最忠诚的几名助手似乎被一起转移到了那架秘密飞机上，其中包括 White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino、另一名高级助手 Walt Nauta，以及特朗普的执行助理 Natalie Harp；Sargent 形容她对总统的作用“like a security blanket to the president.” 诱饵航班上则有 Stephen Miller、国务卿 Marco Rubio、众多助手以及随行媒体记者团。

记者并未被告知换机安排，结果被留在了诱饵飞机上。“这一切很好地象征了特朗普与媒体之间带有虐待性和威权色彩的关系，”Sargent 说。

Sullivan 也表达了类似担忧，并指出特朗普长期以来与新闻界关系紧张。“He has treated the press in a very unusual and very bad way for years now, and unfortunately, many members of the mainstream media don’t seem to care, or they don’t know what to do about it,” 她说。“But they keep covering him in this very normalizing way. Like, 'Well, he’s the president, so therefore we have to believe everything he says,' or, you know, treat it with a great deal of deference.”

“而且，你知道，我认为这非常生动地说明了他是怎么看待他们的，”Sargent 补充道。

Sullivan 认为，白宫本可以出于正当安保原因向媒体隐瞒信息，但他们却提供了错误信息。她表示，White House Correspondents’ Association 本应介入处理。

“ But was there a huge outcry? Was there a sense of, “My God, you can’t do this. Is it an absolute outrage? No,” Sullivan 说。

在周四上午的 CNN 节目中，前众议员 Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) 表示：“I think that's where the press has a right to be upset. If they were on that plane, they were basically made to be, in essence, bait.”

CNN 主持人 Audie Cornish 提出，工作人员的不满也许就是泄密来源。“I wonder if the staff was upset and that's why it got to the press. Do you know what I mean? Like, there were some people who were like, wait, what? Like we were all left behind as well?”

Jim Acosta、Jon Stewart 和 John Oliver 等批评者已经拿这一事件嘲讽特朗普的软弱，并将其与特朗普曾被匆忙送往掩体、躲避数个街区外抗议者的那个夜晚相比较。