Donald Trump explains why he was secretly smuggled off Air Force One
President Donald Trump has spoken out about the secret plan that saw him smuggled off Air Force One and onto another plane on his way back from a NATO summit last month.
The US President flew into Ankara, Turkey, for the summit early last month onboard a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet.
However, when the time came to leave he announced that he would be heading back on the old Air Force One ‘for old time's sake’.
The president said at the time that the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some US troops based in the United Kingdom a chance to check out the new Air Force One.
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Footage from 8 July showed him boarding the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in Suffolk.
But in a somewhat bizarre twist, The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Trump was then smuggled off Air Force One and stowed away in an airport catering container so that he could slip onto another plane in a covert bid to protect him and foil potential assassination threats from Iran.
Meanwhile, Air Force One, which was filled with White House officials, security and support staff, and reporters, was sent into the sky and out of Turkey and essentially worked as decoy, the Press Association reports.
Speaking on Tuesday (11 August), Trump confirmed that the plane switcheroo had happened and revealed what prompted it.
He said: “I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane.
“I just have to do what they say.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”
He also downplayed the risk to the people left on the plane and said the incident did not scare him.
“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump said, without providing many details about the action.
"I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane, I think that they would be more likely to go for it,'
“I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever.”
Trump has previously said he was Iran's 'number one target' during the summit in Ankara.
The White House had not confirmed the Washington Post report.
Instead, White House communications director Steven Cheung relied on similar wording that he used during the trip itself, saying in a statement on Monday: "The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff.
“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”
The US Secret Service declined to comment.
Claire Reid