Mo e
tha
25
yea s
late ,
T ump
evives
Cli to -e a
flight
switch
tactic
Whe
the -US
P eside t
Bill
Cli to
a ived
i
Islamabad,
Pakista ,
i
Ma ch
2000,
a
decoy
ai c aft
bea i g
Ai
Fo ce
O e
ma ki gs
la ded
i
view
of
the
media,
followed
by
a
Sec et
Se vice
age t
esembli g
Cli to .
A
u ma ked
ai c aft
the
la ded,
ca yi g
the
p eside t,
who
disemba ked
f om
it.Susa
Page,
a
White
House
epo te
fo
USA
Today
at
the
time,
was
amo g
a
small
g oup
of
people
who
k ew
about
the
ope atio .Befo e
Cli to ’s
flight
f om
I dia
to
Pakista ,
White
House
officials
summo ed
Page,
who
was
the
p eside t
of
the
White
House
Co espo de ts’
Associatio ,
fo
a
off-the- eco d
b iefi g.
White
House
p ess
a d
secu ity
officials
told
he
about
the
ope atio ,
i cludi g
Cli to ’s
locatio
a d
the
safety
measu es
i
place
fo
jou alists
t avelli g
with
him,
Page
told
The
Washi gto
Post
i
messages.The
b iefi g
mea t
that
at
least
o e
jou alist
t avelli g
with
the
p eside tial
p ess
co ps
k ew
that
Cli to
would
ot
be
aboa d
Ai
Fo ce
O e.“They
told
me
about
the
ext ao di a y
secu ity
p ocedu es
bei g
take
because
of
the
da ge s
i
flyi g
the e,
i cludi g
use
of
the
decoy
pla e,”
Page
was
quoted
as
sayi g
by
The
Washi gto
Post.
“Of
cou se,
the
da ge s
th eate ed
the
jou alists
cove i g
the
t ip
as
well
as
P eside t
Cli to .”
“I
have ’t
spoke
about
this
episode
befo e,
because
of
the
off-the- eco d
g ou d
ules
of
that
discussio ,”
Page
said
th ough
a
text
message.
“But
si ce
mo e
tha
a
qua te -ce tu y
has
passed
—
a d
si ce
the
use
became
evide t
as
soo
as
P eside t
Cli to
disemba ked
i
Pakista
—
I
thi k
it’s
OK
fo
me
to
elay
it
ow.”The
White
House
p ess
pool
is
a
otati g
g oup
of
jou alists
espo sible
fo
epo ti g
o
the
p eside t’s
activities
a d
sha i g
epo ts,
photog aphs
a d
video
with
the
wide
p ess
co ps.
The
fo mal
system
has
bee
i
place
si ce
1937,
although
the
White
House
fi st
used
a
pool
epo te
i
1881
afte
P eside t
James
Ga field
was
shot.Associated
P ess
epo te
F a kli
T usdell
was
statio ed
outside
Ga field’s
oom,
mo ito i g
his
co ditio
a d
sha i g
updates
with
othe
jou alists.The
system
is
i te ded
to
e su e
that
a
membe
of
the
p ess
is
p ese t
to
obse ve
the
p eside t’s
moveme ts
a d
activities,
p ovidi g
the
public
with
a
i depe de t
accou t.
T ump
left,
othe s
stayed
T ump
left,
othe s
stayed
Mo e
tha
25
yea s
late ,
the
White
House
faced
a
simila
secu ity
challe ge
but
ha dled
the
p ess
diffe e tly.
Last
mo th,
secu ity
pe so el
i
Tu key
sec etly
moved
P eside t
Do ald
T ump
f om
a
ai c aft
ma ked
as
Ai
Fo ce
O e
to
a
smalle ,
u ma ked
Ai
Fo ce
pla e
usi g
a
ai po t
cate i g
t uck.
The
ope atio
was
p ompted
by
a
c edible
I a ia
th eat
to
T ump,
The
Washi gto
Post
epo ted.Mo e
tha
100
aides,
officials
a d
jou alists
emai ed
aboa d
the
la ge
Ai
Fo ce
O e
a d
co ti ued
flyi g
towa ds
B itai ,
most
of
them
u awa e
that
T ump
had
sec etly
switched
ai c aft
o
the
ta mac,
acco di g
to
a
US
official.As
the
ai c aft
swap
took
place,
epo te s
aboa d
the
pla e
we e
i st ucted
to
keep
thei
wi dow
shades
lowe ed.Sec eta y
of
state
Ma co
Rubio
a d
t easu y
sec eta y
Scott
Besse t,
who
had
accompa ied
T ump
at
the
Nato
summit
i
A ka a,
we e
amo g
those
who
stayed
aboa d
the
blue-a d-white
Boei g
747.
Othe
White
House
staff,
milita y
pe so el
a d
membe s
of
the
p ess
also
emai ed
o
the
ai c aft,
most
of
them
u awa e
of
T ump’s
whe eabouts.
T ump
ack owledges
pla e
switch
T ump
ack owledges
pla e
switch
US
P eside t
Do ald
T ump
has
co fi med
that
he
was
moved
to
a othe
ai c aft
while
leavi g
Tu key
last
mo th,
sayi g
he
followed
i st uctio s
f om
the
Sec et
Se vice
a d
milita y
afte
bei g
told
that
the
pla e
he
had
i itially
boa ded
faced
a
“g eate
isk”.”I
go
by
Sec et
Se vice
a d
the
milita y.
They
wa ted
me
to
go
o
a
diffe e t
flight,
a
diffe e t
pla e…
I
do
what
they
say…
I
guess
the e
was
a
th eat
out
the e.
I
did ‘t
eally
ask
too
much
about
it.
I
get
a
lot
of
th eats,”
the
US
p eside t
said.”I
thi k
actually
the
pla e
that
I
flew
o
was
at
g eate
isk!
I
thi k
it
was
at
g eate
isk
because
that
would
be
the
pla e,
I
thi k
that
they
would
be
mo e
likely
to
go
fo
it,”
T ump
added.
