As previously reported, President Donald Trump was secretly flown out of Turkey aboard a U.S. military aircraft last month after the United States received intelligence about a potential Iranian threat targeting the president, according to a report citing American officials.
According to the report, Trump initially boarded Air Force One after meeting with world leaders in Ankara but was later quietly transferred to a military aircraft using an airport catering truck as cover.
A U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal that the intelligence warning was provided by Israel and included concerns that shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles could be used against Air Force One. Several of Trump’s senior aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reportedly remained aboard Air Force One after the president had already departed on the military aircraft.
Another U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal that no missiles were fired at either aircraft. The official added that this was the first time such a deception operation had been carried out during Trump’s presidency.
Officials said it was impossible to determine with certainty how credible the reported threat against the president actually was. Nevertheless, at the time, members of the U.S. Secret Service believed extraordinary security measures were necessary to protect Trump, according to the official.
As previously reported, during Trump’s visit to the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8, television cameras captured him boarding the older Boeing 747 that had previously served as the presidential aircraft. Minutes later, however, he was secretly escorted out through the aircraft’s opposite door, concealed by an airport catering truck, and transferred to a smaller C-32A military aircraft operating under a classified callsign with no public flight tracking.
The original presidential aircraft then departed with reporters and several White House staff members still on board. Those aboard were unaware that Trump was no longer on the plane, which served as a decoy intended to conceal the president’s actual location during his departure from Turkey.
