Trump: Presidential plane departed Turkey covertly due to threat

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he secretly flew on an alternate aircraft in Turkey last month, following instructions from the U.S. Secret Service, but added that the plane he ultimately traveled on was more vulnerable than the presidential aircraft, Air Force One.

U.S. media reported that following the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military aircraft aboard a food transport truck, in an unusual ruse prompted by an Iranian threat to assassinate him.

The White House did not disclose this switch, and the matter remained secret until The Washington Post first reported on it on Monday.

Some commentators wondered whether the operation had exposed Trump’s aides and traveling journalists to danger on the plane that was supposed to be carrying the president.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday, “I actually think the plane I rode was at greater risk... because it’s the plane I think they were most likely to target.”

A day after satirical images circulated on social media depicting Trump hiding in a food transport truck, the president, who is attentive to his public image and often promotes edited online photos portraying him as a bold and courageous leader, said he was following the Secret Service’s directives, the agency responsible for protecting the president.

Trump said, “It’s up to the Secret Service alone. I just follow what they want to do... if I follow the instructions of the Secret Service and the military.”

He added, “I think there was some kind of threat. I didn’t ask much about it. I receive a lot of threats.”

At the time, the White House said the president would travel from Turkey to the United Kingdom aboard Air Force One. But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he secretly departed via a food transport truck and boarded another aircraft bound for the United Kingdom, according to The Washington Post on Monday, citing unnamed sources.