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P eside t Do ald T ump has co fi med that he sec etly swapped pla es as he left a Nato summit i Tu key last mo th due to a possible th eat.
“I go by Sec et Se vice a d the milita y. They wa ted me to go i a diffe e t flight, diffe e t pla e,” T ump told epo te s. “I just have to do what they say.”
The evelatio comes afte epo ts that T ump boa ded Ai Fo ce O e o 8 July i view of televisio came as, befo e hidi g i a cate i g t uck to be t a spo ted to a milita y ai c aft.
The last-mi ute switch has aised questio s about whethe those left o the decoy pla e we e i da ge , but T ump said o Tuesday the jet he boa ded i stead could have bee at “g eate isk… because that would be the pla e, I thi k, that they would be mo e likely to go fo “.
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 New Yo k Times epo ted that US i tellige ce had i fo matio of a pe so ea the Nato summit who had bee see with a shoulde -fi ed missile.
Jou alists a d some White House staff o boa d did ot k ow the US p eside t had bee smuggled out as pa t of a elabo ate use i espo se to a possible I a ia th eat.
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T ump has p eviously said he was I a ‘s ” umbe o e ta get” du i g the summit i A ka a.
“I guess the e was a th eat out the e,” the p eside t said du i g a visit aboa d Ai Fo ce O e to a eve t i Ohio o Tuesday. “I did ‘t eally ask too much about it. I get a lot of th eats.”
He added: “I have a lot of th eats that you do ‘t k ow about.”
The cla desti e ma oeuv e last mo th 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 slipped off Ai Fo ce O e o to a cate i g t uck that had bee elevated to pla e level o the opposite side to whe e he had boa ded.
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.
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.
A media pool p oduce who was o the pla e said they fou d it u usual whe they we e told to keep the wi dow shades dow . A photog aphe b iefly ope ed a shade a d epo tedly was quickly told to close it.
The p oduce ‘s comme ts we e detailed i a epo t f om the White House Co espo de ts’ Associatio o Tuesday.
They also oted the e appea ed to have bee two cate i g t ucks at both the f o t a d back of the pla e whe the p ess a ived, a d that the media va had bee too fa back i the moto cade at the ai po t be able to take a photo of the p eside t boa di g.
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Tech ically “Ai Fo ce O e” is the call sig fo a y ai c aft ca yi g the US p eside t.
But o this occasio , the C-32A used the call sig “Reach 18”, while the ai c aft ca yi g the jou alists co ti ued to use “AF1” i o de to keep up the use.
Remai i g o the o igi al ai c aft we e membe s of T ump’s cabi et, acco di g to the New Yo k Times. The outlet, citi g two a o ymous officials, epo ted that Sec eta y of State Ma co Rubio a d T easu y Sec eta y Scott Besse t we e o boa d.
O thei way back to the US f om Tu key, the Ame ica g oup stopped off i the UK at the RAF Milde hall ai base.
Du i g the stop-off, T ump t a sfe ed f om the C-32A back to the legacy jet, though it it ot clea how as this ma oeuv e simila ly u folded i sec et.
T ump was ext see desce di g f om the legacy jet as if he had bee t avelli g o it all alo g. He the t a sfe ed to the ew, Qata i-do ated pla e, befo e completi g the jou ey back to Washi gto .
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T ump’s d amatic pla e swap hi ts at pe so al stakes of I a wa -
12 hou s ago
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I side the Sec et Se vice ‘shell game’ to hide US p eside ts i plai sight -
15 hou s ago
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Du i g that fi al 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 at the time: “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”.
Jose Zamo a, egio al di ecto fo the Ame icas fo the Committee to P otect Jou alists, said i a stateme t that the T ump admi ist atio “has a espo sibility to e su e that jou alists cove i g the p eside t a e ot u ecessa ily exposed to da ge “.
“Repo te s should be i fo med of c edible secu ity th eats so they ca make i fo med decisio s about thei safety,” he added.
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Additio al epo ti g by Jessica Raw sley
Follow the twists a d tu s of T ump’s seco d te m with No th Ame ica co espo de t A tho y Zu che ‘s weekly US Politics U spu ewslette . Reade s i the UK ca sig up he e. Those outside the UK ca sig up he e.
Related topics
- Do ald T ump
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