The Washington Post reported on the 10th of August that US President Donald Trump changed planes before taking off from a NATO summit in Turkey in July, writes Politico.
Trump denied on the 11th of August that he was involved in planning the dramatic and secret plane change when he left the NATO summit in early July. It is reported that most of the passengers who remained on the first plane did not realize that Trump had left and gone to another plane. The US president told reporters that the action depends solely on the Secret Service, and he himself is just following what the service tells him to do.
The covert operation, first reported by the Washington Post, involved Trump discreetly leaving Air Force One and being transported by airport shuttle to a smaller military plane that initially flew him to London. The transfer took place after Trump boarded a regular U.S. government plane in front of the media. The reporters and many of the administration officials on board were unaware that they were serving as decoys.
At the time, Trump insisted he would fly Air Force One, not the Boeing 747-800 donated by Qatar (which he had flown in to Ankara), “for old times’ sake.” The media report later suggested that the Secret Service had learned of the potential threat from Iran and had decided to switch Trump’s planes. The flight out of Ankara came just a day after the U.S. resumed strikes on Iran after the truce collapsed. After checking in to the UK, Trump boarded Air Force One again and officially disembarked.
The Washington Post has not been able to determine how the planes were switched upon arrival.
Trump did not elaborate on the security threat that prompted the plane switch, and told reporters that he did not ask unnecessary questions.
The White House Correspondents’ Association said on the 11th of August that it had raised concerns with the administration about how the ruse had affected journalists’ ability to report on the president’s movements and also posed risks to their safety. Trump, meanwhile, said that the plane he was on was certainly more at risk because the enemy would have targeted it.
The initial decision to switch the Qatari-donated plane for Air Force One raised questions about the safety of the newer plane. The Trump administration subpoenaed The New York Times journalists for discussions regarding the publication’s safety, but withdrew its demands after the publication went to court.
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