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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.

How a catering truck helped Trump secretly switch planes amid threat from Iran

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 — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to take a hard stance with Iran, saying he would either unleash a strong attack or do nothing at all if Tehran doesn't change its ways. "Iran better be careful," Trump told reporters at the White House. "If they do something that we don't think is right, we will hit them very, very hard. But hopefully it won't come to that," he said. The president made the comments as he was leaving for a trip to the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France. Trump also said that Iran would fail if left alone. "Look, if Iran doesn't want to change, if they don't want to become a normal country, they'll fail. They'll fail on their own," he said. The president's comments come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The two countries have been at odds since Trump withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Iran has since taken steps to scale back its commitments under the deal. The U.S. has also increased its military presence in the region and imposed additional sanctions on Iran. Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials. The move was seen as a major escalation in the U.S. campaign to pressure Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, to protest the new sanctions. The U.S. and Iran have not had formal diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The tensions between the two countries have raised concerns about a potential military conflict. Trump on Wednesday said he did not want war with Iran but was prepared to take action if necessary. "I don't want to go to war. I think war is terrible. I think it's awful. But at the same time, I am a warrior. I am a very good one," he said.

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