“They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane," Trump told reporters after returning from an event in Ohio, saying he had little choice in the matter. Presidents often take secret trips — but not like this Commanders in chief have sometimes kept overseas trips covert for security reasons, with schedules and logistics kept classified until after for safety reasons. Graff said the presence of the White House press corps is as much about protecting “the presidency and democracy” as it is about covering the story. “This shows that the White House just fundamentally doesn’t understand how important that role is,” he said. However, the White House did not suggest that the president was somewhere he was not — unlike when Trump was whisked out of Turkey.