Trump reportedly hid in catering container to board secret flight in Turkey amid Iran threat
www.theguardian.com
Elaborate ruse was used to transport president to military flight from Air Force One in July

Elaborate ruse was used to transport president to military flight from Air Force One to return from NATO meet

Prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey last month when the White House said he was flying aboard ⁠Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse that involved hiding the president in an airport catering cart, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post.

An official also confirmed the operation to the New York Times.

  • leadore@lemmy.world
    23·
    22 days ago

    So that means they must have thought Iran would shoot his plane down. I guess they considered the poor suckers flying on the Air Force One expendable. I wonder if anyone told them about it.

    edit: Oh, per the article the answer is No, of course they didn’t:

    On this occasion, the journalists who thought they were traveling with Trump on the older Air Force One reported being advised to keep their window shades in the press cabin closed. The Post said aside from ‌reporters, some White House staff also believed the president was on board.

    When asked later by reporters why they had to keep their shades shut during the flight, Trump said it was because they were “probably on ​a dangerous flight”. He went onto say: “But if I go, you go. Right?”

  • tigermountain@lemmy.world
    12·
    22 days ago

    What? The strongest, smartest, and most fearless president we’ve ever had hiding in a catering truck? Say it’s not so.

  • switcheroo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    22 days ago

    What a little bitch.

    And then all the staffers and press got on the plane he thought was being targeted. Fucking coward.

    • Dejected Warp Core@lemmy.world
      1·
      22 days ago

      He’s unlikely to go in a way that’s publicly verifiable. IMO, that keeps the martyr door chalked wide open. Don’t get me wrong: I really don’t want to be right about that.

  • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
    7·
    22 days ago

    Clever if true, but this trick only works once, and now it’s out in the open.

    All nations contemplating assassinations now:

    Noted. If attempting to take out a leader-in-transit, don’t just target the Presidential/Royal plane, target the support aircraft and any others that might exchange ‘catering carts’ on the tarmac as well, in case Dear Leader is stowing away on one of those.