Trump departed Turkey on a military aircraft and arrived in a presidential plane
The Washington Post reported that U.S. President Donald Trump left Turkey last month aboard a secret military flight, in an operation that involved transferring him between two aircraft inside a food truck, an unusual step taken in response to an Iranian threat to assassinate him.
Reuters reported on Monday that the White House had stated at the time that the president was traveling from Turkey, where he had attended a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, to the United Kingdom aboard Air Force One. However, moments after Trump boarded the plane, he secretly exited via a food truck and boarded another aircraft bound for the UK.
The New York Times confirmed in a report, published by the Associated Press and citing U.S. officials who requested anonymity, that Trump had boarded the modified Qatari-provided presidential aircraft during his trip to Ankara for the NATO summit. However, it was suddenly announced that he would board an older presidential aircraft when departing the country. The flight to the NATO summit was the first international trip for the new plane, whose rapid modernization had raised questions about its cost and security.
Trump stated on his Truth Social platform before leaving Ankara that he would use the old, light-blue presidential aircraft “for old times’ sake” to travel from Ankara to the Royal Air Force Mildenhal base in the UK, while the new plane would stop at the same base to allow U.S. military personnel there to inspect it.
The Washington Post, citing a U.S. official familiar with the operation and documents reviewed by the newspaper that support the account, said that after Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara, he was secretly transferred via a catering truck at the airport to a smaller aircraft, a C-32A belonging to the U.S. Air Force. The newspaper explained that this camouflage operation was carried out in response to a credible threat targeting Trump.
A similar operation took place in 2000, when former President Bill Clinton boarded an unmarked business jet typically used by executives to travel to Pakistan, while his official presidential aircraft was sent away to serve as a decoy.
