Trump Explains Secret Plane Change in Turkey Amid Security Threat
ANKARA — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he secretly switched planes in Turkey last month at the direction of the US Secret Service, following an Iranian assassination threat that prompted an extraordinary deception operation.
Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck, according to US media reports. The White House did not disclose the change at the time, and it remained secret until the Washington Post reported it on Monday.
“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”
Trump said he was following the direction of the Secret Service. “I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” he said. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”
The White House had said at the time that the president was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkey to Britain. But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he left it secretly via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft, the Post reported. Trump had taken a newly renovated Qatari-donated jet to Ankara but unexpectedly announced he would use an older Air Force One when departing, prompting questions about the newer plane’s security.
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