US President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, US media reported.
According to an anonymous US official who spoke to The Washington Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane.
The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to believe Trump was still on the bigger jet.
The Iranian threat had previously been reported by US media as the reason that Trump did not fly out of Turkey aboard the new Boeing 747-8, gifted to the United States by Qatar, which he had used to fly into the country.
Trump, who was in Ankara for a NATO summit, said at the time he would be taking the older Boeing 747 so that members of the US military at an airbase in Britain could tour the new plane.
However, several US media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that a threat from Iranian proxy forces had prompted the switch.
Journalists on the old plane out of Ankara were also told to keep their window blinds down — a step normally reserved for war zones — furthering suspicions of security concerns.
The plane swap prompted renewed scrutiny of the Qatar-gifted jet, which the New York Times reported did not have the same security features as the older jet, including anti-missile defenses.
The plane was then rapidly retrofitted and flew Trump for the first time on July 1, to North Dakota. Just days later, he took it on its first overseas trip to Turkey.
When queried about the the new plane’s safety, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in the statement, “As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.” (AFP)
