Donald Trump ‘smuggled off Air Force One in food cart’ in secret plan after assassination threat
Donald Trump was smuggled onto a different aircraft in a catering truck in a covert bid to protect him and foil potential assassination threats from Iran.
The US President secretly flew out of last month’s Nato summit in Turkey on an alternative military aircraft, however the White House made it appear as though he was flying on Air Force One.
The Washington Post reported that the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Mr Trump, and that the elaborate 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 after the annual gathering.
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According to a US official familiar with the operation and another source with knowledge of the president’s travel, Mr Trump had flown to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing from Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.
The president at the time said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some US troops based in eastern England a chance to check out the new Air Force One.
In Ankara, Mr Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.
However it was reported that after boarding the legacy Air Force One jet, he was then secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A, via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies.
The White House did not respond directly to questions about the secret operation to whisk Mr Trump out of the country on a third aircraft, or the reported elaborate ruse to make it appear he was on the baby blue Air Force One jet flying to Mildenhall.
“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,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The US Secret Service declined to comment. The Air Force, which maintains the fleet of executive travel aircraft, referred questions to the White House. While Mr Trump was in Turkey, the US military conducted a series of large strikes in Iran in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region.
The New York Times and CBS News reported last month that intelligence officials had raised concerns about a potential attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions and the decision not to use the newly inaugurated aircraft gifted to Mr Trump by Qatar for the first leg of his trip home from Ankara.
Mr Cheung on Monday maintained that the Qatari-gifted plane was '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'.
Paul Eckloff, a former special agent with the Secret Service, said such an unusual move could either reflect actionable intelligence or an abundance of caution given volatility in the region with the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
“I would not say unprecedented, but it is an unusual occurrence,” Mr Eckloff said.
The Post also reported that to exit that plane without being seen by those uninvolved in the operation, Mr Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated plane-side using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One’s entrance.
The small group of reporters who thought they were traveling with Mr Trump were advised to lower their window shades ahead of take-off. After arriving at Mildenhall, news photographers captured images of Mr Trump getting off the presidential plane.
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump
James Holt