Donald Trump is facing accusations of cowardice after reports claimed he used a catering cart to slip away from a newly built Air Force One amid fears of an Iranian assassination plot in Turkey.
According to The Washington Post, the President quietly left a NATO summit last month by exiting his presidential aircraft in secret and transferring to a separate military plane.
Trump had arrived in Turkey on a new 747-8 donated by Qatari officials, an aircraft his administration has reportedly spent heavily to retrofit with security upgrades.
Although Trump was later seen on camera and in photographs boarding an older Air Force One jumbo jet in Ankara, officials said the public appearance was part of a diversion. They claimed he had actually been hidden inside a food cart placed in the aircraft’s lower hold as threats from Iranian officials escalated.
At the time, Iranians were still mourning the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, while officials had put a bounty on Trump as revenge for the Supreme Leader.
The catering cart was then reportedly loaded onto an airport food-service truck and driven to a smaller Air Force C-32A aircraft waiting nearby.
The maneuver allegedly misled reporters and even some White House staff members who remained aboard the “decoy” Air Force One flight. The Secret Service had deemed that aircraft unsafe for the President, but officials did not brief the journalists on board about the Iranian threat or tell them the plane had been ruled too risky for Trump.
Critics seized on the report. “Trump is a coward… He endangered their lives to protect himself. It was his incompetence that lost the war to Iran and his corruption that got the Qatari jet in the first place,” X user Tom Joseph wrote.
Trump had flown to Turkey on a Qatari-donated Air Force One jet before switching back to his older model for the journey home
Journalists who boarded the old Air Force One plane believed the President was on board
The President boarding the old Air Force One plane set to transport him to a US military base in the UK as cameras rolled at an airport in Ankara
HuffPost White House reporter SV Date told fellow journalists and White House officials: ‘Trump was ready to let you die while he secretly made his escape.’
Meanwhile, Liberal critics such as Ron Filipkowski praised Joe Biden for ‘never hiding in a catering cart’ and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor said the report made Trump look like a ‘scared little b***.’
In video that day from the tarmac, Trump could be seen waving to the cameras as he heads into the older plane, before a truck is seen maneuvering towards the steps of the new Air Force One.
The video shows a man in a suit entering the catering truck’s cab. A container is then loaded into the bed of the vehicle and pulls away from the old Air Force One. When the container was lowered, a person in a suit stepped out of the truck’s cab.
Moments later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was seen boarding the C-32A separately using regular stairs as part of an apparent attempt to make the flight appear typical.
Journalists who boarded the old Air Force One plane, believing Trump was aboard, were instructed to close their window shades.
Meanwhile, the C-32A flight Trump and Hegseth were on used the call sign ‘Reach 18’ or ‘RCH18,’ according to the Washington Post.
When pressed about Trump’s daring escape, White House official Steven Cheung did not address the controversy but instead said, ‘The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff.
Iranian media has also issued threats against First Lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump
Ominous ‘Kill Trump’ signs – written in both English and Farsi – have also been erected across the Iranian capital
‘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.’
Iranian officials have publicly called for the assassination of Trump, as well as top officials in his administration.
Over the past month, pro-regime demonstrators have flown banners depicting a blood-red ‘bullseye’ over Trump’s face.
Iranian media has also issued threats against First Lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump.
