Donald Trump Confirms Secret Plane Switch in Turkey After Iran Threat

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed he secretly swapped planes in Turkey last month after a threat from Iran, saying the Secret Service and the military wanted him to go on “a different flight, a different plane.”

“a credible Iranian threat to fire a surface-to-air missile at Air Force One”

Reuters

Reuters reported the swap followed an Iranian assassination threat, with U.S. intelligence detecting a credible Iranian threat to fire a surface-to-air missile at Air Force One and prompting the Secret Service to order the covert operation.

AlbertoNews

Trump described the outcome by telling reporters, “I think actually the plane I flew on was at greater risk,” and Reuters said the operation was executed after the NATO summit in Ankara.

The Telegraph described how the ruse worked in practice, saying Trump hid in an airport catering lorry before being covertly transferred to a military aircraft while the presidential Air Force One jet was used as a decoy to fly the White House press corps and senior aides across Europe.

The BBC added that Trump said he was following Secret Service advice when he was moved from Air Force One to a military jet via a catering container at Ankara airport, and that officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News the U.S. detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane.

The Telegraph quoted Mark Schoeff Jr of the National Press Club saying, “Journalists are not decoys,” and argued that leaving reporters on an aircraft presumed to carry the president would be “deeply troubling.”

Trump, by contrast, framed the decision around following security direction, telling reporters, “It’s only up to Secret Service,” and Reuters said the White House did not disclose the change until later reporting.

BBC

NBC News reported that White House communications director Steven Cheung did not dispute the Washington Post’s account and said, “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols.”

The BBC said journalists and some White House staff on board did not know the president had been smuggled out as part of an elaborate ruse, and it reported that reporters were instructed to keep window shades closed.

In the same BBC account, Trump said, “I guess there was a threat out there,” and added, “I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about,” while Reuters said some commentators questioned whether the operation left aides and journalists traveling with him at risk.

NBC News said Senate Democrats want a briefing, quoting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying, “The Senate should be immediately briefed on the Iranian threats against the President.”

““The Senate should be immediately briefed on the Iranian threats against the President”

NBC News

Reuters reported that the White House said Trump was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkey to Britain, but that the swap remained a secret until the Washington Post first reported it on Monday.

The BBC described how the clandestine manoeuvre came a day after the U.S. renewed military strikes on Iran following a breakdown of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war, placing the plane swap in a broader escalation context.

The Telegraph said Trump addressed the operation for the first time on Tuesday evening, telling reporters, “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane ... so I do what they say.”

In a separate account, La Vanguardia quoted Trump saying, “I receive many threats that you are unaware of,” and it reported that the episode involved a covert transport by the Secret Service in a catering truck to another military aircraft on the tarmac after the NATO summit in Ankara.