Trump Secretly Switched Planes in Turkey Amid Iranian Assassination Threat

The exact method of the plane switch and the role of the catering truck are reported by multiple sources, but the specific details of the operation vary slightly.

The perceived risk of the plane Trump was on versus Air Force One is reported differently by sources.

Yesterday's primaries provided more insight into what voters in both parties want from their new leaders. And, Trump secretly switched planes in Turkey last month amid a foreign threat

Iran lost top leaders in the war and US ‘humiliation ... a form of revenge’, say experts, after administration’s flight ruse Since the joint US-Israeli strikes in February that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and scores of other senior Iranian officials on the first day of the war, a revenge plot to kill Donald Trump should not have appeared far-fetched. But the US administration’s elaborate ruse to spirit Trump off of Air Force One in Turkey last month indicates a credibility to the Iranian threat that has surprised many in Washington – including the Trump aides and journalists left on the jet that may have remained the target of an Iranian missile strike. Continue reading...

Donald Trump reportedly took a secret military flight out of Turkey last month in an undercover operation prompted by fears that Iran was planning an assassination attempt against the US president. The operation reportedly involved Trump being transferred between aircraft inside a catering truck.

Air Force One was still carrying journalists and top aides, who remained at apparent risk of an Iranian strike.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he secretly switched planes in Turkiye last month at the direction of the US Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One. Following a Nato summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, US media reported. The White House did not disclose the change and it remained a secret until the Washington Post first reported it on Monday. Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump’s aides and journalists travelling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president. “I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.” After a day of social media memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck, the image-conscious president, who often promotes memes of himself as a bold and courageous leader, said he was following the direction of the Secret Service, the agency that protects the president. “Well, it’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump said. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats,” Trump said. The White House said at the time that the president was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkiye to Britain. But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he left it in secret via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft for the flight to Britain, the Post said on Monday, quoting unnamed sources. Trump had taken a newly renovated Qatari-donated jet to Ankara for the Nato summit but unexpectedly announced he would use an older Air Force One when departing the country, a move that prompted questions about the newer plane’s security. The trip to Nato was the first international travel for the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost and security, and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkiye.

“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters after returning from an event in Ohio. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” he said. “I get a lot of threats.”

Donald Trump has confirmed that he secretly switched planes because of a threat to his life, after the Washington Post revealed the US president was smuggled out of Air Force One to a different aircraft on a catering truck.

I think it was at greater risk ‌because that would be ​the plane I think that they ⁠would be more ⁠likely to go for, said U.S. President Donald ​Trump

The president says the Secret Service wanted him to go on a different flight after the Nato summit in Turkey.

It marks another striking episode in the turbulent history of his relationship with Iran, writes Anthony Zurcher.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed a US media report that he secretly switched planes while flying out of Turkey last month due to a security risk. While some journalists left on the original Air Force One flight expressed anger at having unwittingly served as decoys, Trump maintained the military plane he actually took faced a “greater risk”.

US President Donald Trump took a secret military flight from Turkey last month in an operation that involved him being moved between aircraft in a catering truck, an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, the Washington Post reported.

President Donald Trump took a secret military flight from Turkey last month in an operation that involved him being moved between aircraft in a catering truck, an extraordinary deception prompted ​by an Iranian assassination threat, the Washington Post reported.

The US president was moved from the old Air Force One to a military plane as he left a Nato summit in Turkey last month, US media say.

Trump reportedly used catering cart to switch planes, unbeknownst to the press pool and some White House staff.

US ​President Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey last month when the White House said he was flying aboard Air Force One, an extraordinary ​move prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, the Washington Post reported Monday.

The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the President as he began his journey back to Washington

President Donald Trump reportedly used an elaborate ruse to leave the NATO summit in Turkey, amid a credible assassination threat. Meanwhile, oil prices rose as hopes for a deal on the Strait of Hormuz fade. DW has more.

Elaborate ruse was used to transport president to military flight from Air Force One to return from Nato meet Prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey last month when the White House said he was flying aboard ⁠Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse that involved hiding the president in an airport catering cart, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times. The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post. Continue reading...