Trump foiled an Iran threat by using an airport catering truck and a secret plane to leave Turkey: Report
President Donald Trump gestures as he switches planes at U.S. Air Force Base, RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk Eastern England, on his way back to Washington from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo:AP)United States President Donald Trump secretly left Turkey on a hidden military flight last month, even though the White House told the public he had departed aboard Air Force One, according to a detailed report from the Washington Post.
The operation, described by a US official as a “deception operation,” was triggered by a credible threat to Trump involving Iran. To carry it out, the Post reports, Trump was quietly moved from the plane he had boarded in front of television cameras and shuttled across the tarmac in an airport catering truck, the kind normally used to load meals and supplies before a flight, before being placed on a separate, unmarked aircraft.
The New York Times later confirmed the operation through its own official source. The switch took place while Trump was in Ankara for a NATO summit, at a moment when tensions with Iran, which borders Turkey, were rising sharply.
What actually happened in Ankara?
Trump had travelled to Ankara for a NATO summit. As cameras rolled, he boarded what looked like the older Air Force One jet in full view of the press. Minutes later, according to a US official cited by the Post, he was quietly shuttled away in an airport catering truck, the kind normally used to load meals onto planes, and moved onto a smaller aircraft, an Air Force C-32A.
Trump’s real location was kept from journalists travelling with him and even from some White House staff. A US official told the Post that the switch, described as a “deception operation,” was set off by a credible threat to Trump involving Iran.
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