Trump Boarded Air Force One for Cameras, Then Slipped Off

President Trump's latest foreign trip came with a performance of public deception: a secret plane swap to dodge what administration officials say was a credible Iranian plot to kill him. The Washington Post reports that after the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, Trump walked up the stairs of the legacy blue-and-white Air Force One in full view of cameras in Ankara, then slipped off the plane into an airport catering truck on the far side of the jet. The truck took him to a smaller Air Force C-32A, which then flew to Britain under the low-profile call sign "Reach 18," while journalists and some staff—believing they were with the president—remained on the decoy 747 that later used the "Air Force One" call sign anyway.

The operation, triggered by US intelligence about an Iranian threat to Trump or his aircraft, kept his real location concealed for hours from the public and many senior officials. It followed scrutiny of the newer Qatari-gifted 747 Trump has begun using as Air Force One, which lacks certain defensive systems. The White House has continued to publicly say Trump left Turkey on the older 747, which is what Trump had posted he was going to do "for old time's sake." Asked about the Post's findings, officials instead defended the newer jet's security and declined to detail the deception. The full Post report can be found here.