Trump secretly switched planes in Turkey hiding inside a catering truck Donald Trump was secretly moved from Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft using an airport catering truck during his departure from Turkey last month, in an extraordinary security operation reportedly triggered by an Iranian assassination threat. The Washington Post reported that Trump was publicly seen boarding an older Air Force One aircraft after the NATO summit in Ankara, but was then covertly transferred to a C-32A military jet while journalists and even some White House personnel were kept in the dark. The elaborate deception was designed to conceal the president’s whereabouts, with the decoy aircraft carrying members of the press and other passengers while Trump flew separately to Britain. Reuters, AP, ABC News and other major outlets have since reported the details, confirming that the operation was far more elaborate than the White House’s public account suggested. Extraordinary security operationThe reported threat came amid heightened tensions with Iran and intelligence warnings that Trump could be targeted for assassination. White House communications director Steven Cheung had previously acknowledged that the president faced threats and said authorities were using “distraction and misdirection” to protect him. Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard the Qatar-donated Boeing 747-8 but was publicly expected to leave on the older presidential aircraft. Instead, according to the reports, the catering truck provided a discreet transfer to the smaller military jet, which flew to RAF Mildenhall in Britain. The decoy Air Force One arrived shortly afterwards, helping conceal Trump’s actual movements. The operation has since raised questions in Washington about the seriousness of the Iranian threat and the extent to which the administration deliberately misled the press about the president’s departure. SOURCE
