Iran threat prompted secret Trump flight from Turkiye: Reports

Trump reportedly used catering cart to switch planes, unbeknownst to the press pool and some White House staff.An Iranian assassination threat prompted United States President Donald Trump to secretly switch planes in Turkiye last month, with Air Force One serving as a decoy while he flew out on a smaller military aircraft, according to US media reports.While Trump publicly stated he would depart the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8 on an older version of Air Force One, he was actually spirited into a catering container, which then ferried him to a small C-32A aircraft that took him to the United Kingdom, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘The show must go on’: Trump returns to rescheduled White House press galalist 2 of 3What’s behind Trump’s shift to economic pressure on Iran? Will it work?list 3 of 3Trump’s media company reports $238m lossend of listThe “deception operation” was triggered by a credible Iran-related threat to Trump, The Post cited a US official as saying.The Iranian threat had previously been reported by US media as the reason that Trump did not fly out of Turkiye on board the new Air Force One – a Boeing 747-8 gifted to the United States by Qatar – which he had used to fly into the country.Trump said at the time he would be taking the older Boeing 747 “for old time’s sake”. However, several US media outlets reported that a threat from Iran-aligned armed groups had prompted the switch.‘Many enemies have sights on him’Journalists who thought they were traveling with Trump on the older Air Force One, which was effectively used as a decoy, reported being advised to keep their window shades ⁠in the press cabin closed – furthering suspicions of security concerns. The Post said aside from reporters, some White House staff ⁠also believed that the president was on board.