Donald Trump has confirmed that he left last month’s NATO summit in Turkey aboard a US military aircraft rather than Air Force One. The switch followed a security assessment by the Secret Service.
According to DR, the American president was seen walking up the stairs to the older Air Force One in Istanbul on July 8. He paused at the door and waved to the assembled press. The plane then took off with staff and journalists who believed they were flying with him.
Trump was not on board. He had been moved to a US military aircraft instead. Speaking to reporters overnight into Wednesday, he said the matter was up to the Secret Service and that he does what they tell him, DR reports.
Reports of an Iranian threat
The Washington Post reported on August 10 that Trump was secretly transferred amid an Iran threat, and that the Air Force One departure functioned as a decoy. CNN reported the same day that the change took place during the NATO trip and was driven by security concerns.
Reuters reported that Trump was moved between aircraft in a catering truck because of concerns about a possible Iranian assassination plot. Trump did not confirm that Iran was behind the reported threat. He said he assumed there had been a threat, that he did not ask many questions, and that he was not surprised.
American media, citing anonymous sources, describe the catering truck as the method used to keep the president hidden. The Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among those traveling on the aircraft Trump left. Asked why the flight was considered too dangerous for him but not for his staff and the press, Trump said he believed the plane he traveled on was the more likely target.
Three aircraft left Turkey that day, per DR: the older Air Force One, the military plane, and a Boeing 747-8 that Qatar gave Trump. All three later landed in the United Kingdom, where Trump was to greet US soldiers. He stepped off Air Force One there, giving the impression that he had crossed Europe on the presidential plane.
The New York Times reported on July 8 that security precautions led Trump to use the older Air Force One for the departure from Turkey instead of the Qatari jet. The following day, the paper reported that officials said the donated aircraft lacks defensive countermeasures found on earlier presidential planes.
It is not publicly known how Trump was moved from the military aircraft back to Air Force One in the United Kingdom, DR notes. In the United States, part of the debate concerns why the public was not informed after the president had returned home safely, according to DR’s correspondent Trine Maria Ilsøe.
