How a catering truck helped Trump secretly switch planes amid threat from Iran
The News Hour has confirmed the Washington Post's reporting on extraordinary, secret security measures taken to protect President Trump. The president switched planes not once, but twice while leaving last month's NATO summit in Turkey. A transfer from the legacy Air Force One to a smaller aircraft, by way of a catering truck, had not been known until now. Nick Schifrin reports.
In a controversial incident following the NATO summit in Turkey, President Donald Trump's secret security measures were revealed as he switched planes twice during his departure. The first switch was from Air Force One to a smaller aircraft, facilitated by a catering truck. This was not initially known until The Washington Post and The News Hour reported on the extraordinary security measures.
The catering truck, usually used for feeding the president, secretly transported him to the smaller plane, which then departed without the main Air Force One. Once the main plane left, President Trump disembarked from the smaller plane, seemingly undisturbed. The president then walked to his new Qatari-gifted plane, as if nothing had happened.
This incident raised concerns about the vulnerability of the Secret Service and the president while on Air Force One. The threat from Iran, deemed credible enough to warrant the decoy plan, had been a concern since President Trump ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
Written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
