When President Donald Trump left the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit last month, it appeared as though he left on Air Force One. He even boarded the plane in front of cameras and referenced plans to fly on it in a Truth Social post.
However, the president instead took a secret flight on a different plane, according to a new report from the Washington Post. This exclusive report claimed that Trump’s departure from the NATO summit in Turkey included an “elaborate ruse” to conceal details of his travel due to an Iranian assassination threat, the outlet reported. It cited anonymous sources.
Trump announced in late February that the U.S. had joined Israel to attack Iran and conflict between the countries has dragged on for months, including blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, an important oil transportation route. At the time of the NATO conference, a tentative peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran was falling apart. Bloomberg reported this Tuesday that Pakistan said the U.S. and Iran are again close to a peace deal.
Per the Associated Press, “the Post cited material reviewed by the newspaper, a U.S. official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the president’s travel,” in the article on Trump’s secret flight. The AP said it has not independently verified the Post’s report.
According to the Post’s sources, Trump’s move fooled some journalists and even some White House staff members. Instead of getting on Air Force One, “the president secretly hopped into an airport catering truck and shuttled to an Air Force C-32A, a smaller military plane,” said Salon’s coverage of the report.
While the White House notes that “Air Force One” generally refers to any plane carrying the president, it said that today it refers to “one of two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, which carry the tail codes 28000 and 29000.” In addition to the Air Force One plane in use when Trump started his second term, Qatar also gifted his administration with a new plane that has been controversial.
“The same week that Trump switched planes, the New York Times, citing anonymous officials, reported that the Qatari-gifted Air Force One lacks the defensive countermeasures of the previous model,” said Salon. “The White House later subpoenaed the Times journalists over the report, demanding to know who disclosed the information, and even brought FBI Director Kash Patel into the investigation. The subpoenas were later withdrawn.”
Trump flew to Turkey on the Qatari jet, but said he would fly home out of Ankara, Turkey, to Mildenhall in the U.K. on the older Air Force One plane. Salon also said that the type of ruse the Post claims Trump pulled off is “rare,” for U.S. presidents.
“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement. Trump has been the subject of multiple assassination attempts and threats.
The AP said that the U.S. Secret Service declined to comment and that the U.S. Air Force, which maintains the fleet of executive travel aircraft, referred questions to the White House.
