Trump Left Marco Rubio, Top Aides on Air Force One as He Secretly Fled Iranian Threat

President Trump left some of his biggest cabinet members aboard Air Force One while he secretly escaped Turkey amid an alleged Iranian threat against POTUS and AF1 ... including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top aides.

The Wall Street Journal reports Rubio and several senior officials remained on the older AF1 after Trump made a big show of boarding it in Turkey ... only for Trump to sneak off in an airport catering truck and fly away on a military plane.

Israel reportedly warned the Trump administration Iran could target Air Force One with shoulder-to-air missiles ... prompting the Secret Service to take extraordinary measures to protect Trump -- and no one else.

Still ... it's unclear how credible the threat was.

No missiles were fired ... and a U.S. official said it was the first time Trump's administration used this kind of aerial decoy.

As TMZ previously reported ... Trump was secretly driven across the Ankara airport in a catering truck, then flown to the United Kingdom aboard an Air Force C-32A.

Before the switcheroo, Trump said he was taking the older Air Force One "for old time's sake." The newer AF1, a gift from Qatar, reportedly lacks adequate defense capabilities ... so it wasn't used on the flight from Turkey.

Trump flew home from the U.K. with reporters and everyone else on the new AF1 ... and he was asked why journalists on the flight out of Turkey were asked to close their window shades. He replied, "You're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with. I'm number one on their list, before you. But if I go, you go right?"