– U.S. President Donald Trump left Turkey this month on a secret military jet while the White House stated he was aboard Air Force One, an extraordinary step taken because of an Iranian assassination threat.

Trump had flown the recently renovated, Qatari-donated aeroplane to Ankara for the NATO meeting, but surprisingly utilised an older Air Force One before departing the nation, raising worries about the newer plane’s security.

The flight to NATO was the new plane’s first international voyage, and its quick improvements drew worries about its cost and security as hostilities with Iran, which shares a border with Turkey, increased.

Before left Ankara, Trump stated on Truth Social he would take an older baby blue Air Force One plane “for old time’s sake” to RAF Mildenhall in Britain while the new plane made a stop at the same location so U.S. service people stationed there could see the aircraft.

An old Air Force One brought Trump to Ankara, where he appeared before cameras, but then he was surreptitiously spirited away in an airport food truck to a smaller jet, an Air Force C-32A, said a U.S. official familiar with the operation and who saw corroborating material.

A source said the deception effort was launched when Trump faced a real danger. A similar operation was performed in 2000 when President Bill Clinton flew into Pakistan aboard an unmarked executive plane, with his formal Air Force One as decoy.

In this instance, journalists who thot they were flying on the older Air Force One, which was effectively deployed as a decoy, said they were told to keep their window shades down in the press cabin. A source added several White House workers, other than reporters, also thot the president was on board.

Later, when questioned by reporters why they had to keep their shades down during the flight, Trump responded it was because they were “probably on a dangerous flight.” He went on to say: “But if I go, you go. Correct?

The C-32A carrying Trump landed in Britain at about 10:20 p.m., with the older Air Force One and journalists arriving minutes later, a source said. It wasn’t apparent how Trump was relocated from the C-32A back to the older Air Force One, the article added.

Trump’s travelling press pool said he stepped off the stairs of the older Air Force One around 10:56 p.m. UK local time.
He flashed press ⁠a peace sign but didn’t walk over to chat to them.

He then spent some time visiting service members before walking over to the new plane provided by Qatar.

When asked for a reaction to the disclosure of a covert travel aboard a ​third plane, the White House issued a statement from Communications Director Steve Cheung, who stated that the Qatari-donated jet ​has been equipped with ⁠high-level security systems to guarantee the safety of the president and his staff.“America has many enemies who have their eyes on the President, as he recently said, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” Cheung added.