U.S. 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 White House said at the time that the president was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkey, where he had attended a NATO summit, to Britain. But moments after Trump had boarded the plane, he left it in secret via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft for the flight to Britain.
After Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara, he was secretly shuttled by the airport catering truck to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A. The deception operation was triggered by a credible threat to Trump, the Post reported.
On this occasion, the journalists who thought they were traveling with Trump on the older Air Force One, which was effectively used as a decoy, reported being advised to keep their window shades in the press cabin closed. The Post said some White House staff also believed that the president was on board.
The C-32A carrying Trump flew to Britain and arrived at around 10:20 p.m. with the older Air Force One and media arriving minutes later, the Post reported. It was not clear how Trump was moved from the C-32A back to the older Air Force One.
