WASHINGTON — A video appears to show the covert moment President Trump used a Turkish airport catering truck to reach a military aircraft last month, capping an extraordinary plane switch that unfolded while reporters — and even some White House aides — remained unaware aboard Air Force One.
The footage shows a catering vehicle with its box bed raised, the kind normally used to load in-flight meals, positioned on the far side of Air Force One in Ankara on July 8. Trump had boarded the presidential aircraft after the annual NATO leaders’ conference and after repeatedly referring throughout the day to Iran’s interest in killing him.
Minutes later, as the White House press pool made its way onto Air Force One, the same truck — its bed now lowered — pulled away from the jet and drove with little notice to a nearby military C-32A plane. The Washington Post reported that the aircraft then flew Trump to the United Kingdom.
The White House has not denied the Washington Post report, which was based on two sources, including at least one US official.
Earlier that day, Trump had said he would depart Turkey on the original Air Force One while sending his new jet — recently donated by Qatar — ahead to RAF Mildenhall so US service members stationed there could tour it before he used the aircraft for the trip back to Washington.
It remains unclear who else accompanied Trump inside the truck. The president is usually followed by a doctor and staff members assigned to keep communications open with the military and the White House chief of staff’s office.
Meanwhile, reporters aboard Air Force One were told to keep their window shades down at the request of the Secret Service.
According to a pool dispatch, one photographer who lifted a shade was promptly told to lower it again.
The deception stunned Washington veterans. Although then-President Bill Clinton similarly used Air Force One as a decoy in 2000 during a high-risk trip to Pakistan, he did not ditch reporters aboard the plane that was deemed to be higher-risk.
The publicly stated plan to use the older Air Force One was believed to be motivated by a lack of advanced security features on the newer craft, while the senior presidential plane has technology to deflect incoming missiles.
When a Post reporter asked Trump at a news conference in Ankara whether he was ditching the new plane due to threats from Iran, the president responded that “I’m number one on the kill list” for the Islamic Republic, but declined to elaborate further.
When another journalist pressed Trump on his publicly stated plane swap, the president insisted he sent the Qatari jet out of Turkey “so the soldiers can see it, because it’s truly magnificent.”
