What Trump’s decoy plane ruse tells us about poor leadership

September 4, 2026 — 9:30am

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I suspect I won’t be allowed in the United States again after this but being able to respectfully talk truth to power is a fundamental right of a Western democracy, so I take my chances.

Last month, as reported by The Washington Post and CBS News, the president of the US boarded the presidential aircraft Air Force One in front of the cameras at Ankara airport, and then he quietly left it. Facing a credible Iranian missile threat, he was reportedly moved by catering truck to a smaller military aircraft and flown out under a different call sign.

The journalists and staff who boarded the original plane were told to keep their window shades down and they weren’t told why, and they also weren’t told the president was gone. Then, as scheduled, they flew home, unknowingly aboard an aircraft a hostile state had decided was a legitimate target.

Set aside the politics. I want to look at this through an entirely different lens: leadership.

I have spent three decades now in the Australian army, much of it in Special Forces, and my consultancy teaches leadership to executives. The definition of leadership I use is a demanding one: leadership is compelling other people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. It’s important to understand that........

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