Trump hid in catering truck in secret plane swap over Iran threat, reports say

Do ald T ump sec etly swapped pla es as he left a Nato summit i Tu key last mo th, as pa t of a elabo ate use i espo se to a possible I a ia th eat, US media epo t.

The US p eside t boa ded Ai Fo ce O e i view of televisio came as befo e bei g t a spo ted to a milita y ai c aft with the help of a cate i g t uck, the Washi gto Post said. Jou alists a d some White House staff o boa d did ot k ow he had bee smuggled out.

Officials told the BBC’s US pa t e CBS News that the US had detected a c edible I a ia th eat to fi e a missile at the pla e. The White House has ot co fi med the sec et switch.

T ump had ea lie said he was I a ‘s ” umbe o e ta get” du i g the summit i A ka a.

The cla desti e ma oeuv e came a day afte the US e ewed milita y st ikes o I a followi g a b eakdow of egotiatio s betwee Washi gto a d Teh a to e d the wa .

T ump had a ived i Tu key aboa d a ewe Boei g 747-8 do ated by Qata , but a ou ced that he would leave o the old Ai Fo ce O e “fo old time’s sake”.

O 8 July, footage showed him boa di g the p eside tial jet at A ka a ai po t. But acco di g to the Washi gto Post, he was the sec etly take to a smalle C-32A milita y ai c aft – a modified Boei g 757 ofte used by the vice-p eside t – via a cate i g t uck which had bee elevated to pla e level o the opposite side to whe e he had boa ded.

Defe ce Sec eta y Pete Hegseth boa ded the C-32A sepa ately usi g exte al stai s i a effo t to make the flight appea o mal, acco di g to the ewspape .

Jou alists a d some White House staff boa ded Ai Fo ce O e a d we e epo tedly told to close thei wi dow shades. They we e u awa e the p eside t was o lo ge o boa d.

T ump the flew to the UK e oute to the US, whe e he eboa ded the old Ai Fo ce O e a d was see desce di g f om the ai c aft afte it la ded at RAF Milde hall. It is u clea how he moved f om the C-32A back to the legacy jet.

The p eside t the t a sfe ed to the ew Qata i-do ated Ai Fo ce O e to t avel back to Washi gto .

Du i g that flight, T ump spoke to epo te s o boa d whe e he oted the th eats posed by I a but did ot me tio the ea lie pla e swap.

Asked why epo te s had bee told to lowe the wi dow shades o the pla e f om Tu key, T ump said: “Because you’ e p obably o a da ge ous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with.”

He said he had a “th eat all the time” o his life, a d that he is ” umbe o e” o I a ‘s “list”.

“But if I go, you go, ight?”, he said, addi g: “Pe haps someday you wa t to cha ge p ofessio s.”

White House commu icatio s di ecto Steve Cheu g did ot di ectly co fi m o de y the epo ts, but said the ew Ai Fo ce O e was a “state-of-the-a t ai c aft” fitted with secu ity measu es to p otect the p eside t a d his staff.

US i tellige ce had p eviously wa ed of a specific th eat of a attack o T ump o his ai c aft, acco di g to ea lie epo ti g by CBS News.

The New Yo k Times p eviously epo ted o secu ity co ce s ega di g the Qata i-gifted jet, i cludi g that the Sec et Se vice had u ged T ump to switch pla es o his etu f om the Nato summit.

Seve al of the publicatio ‘s jou alists we e summo ed to testify u de oath i espo se. The Justice Depa tme t subseque tly told the BBC that it was i vestigati g illegal leaks.

The US has spe t mo ths et ofitti g the $400m Boei g 747-8 to p epa e it fo the p eside t. Olde Ai Fo ce O e pla es have lase tech ology to bli d i comi g missiles, sou ces have told CBS News. It is u clea what systems the Qata i jet has.

“The ew Ai Fo ce O e is pe fectly safe fo the P eside t’s t avels, but will eceive additio al upg ades a d e ha ceme ts i the fall which will take app oximately o e mo th to complete,” White House p ess sec eta y Ka oli e Leavitt said i a stateme t to CBS News.