Secret Service and military wanted me off Air Force One in Turkey due to threat, Trump says
“They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane,” Trump told reporters after returning from an event in Ohio. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” he said. “I get a lot of threats.”
President Donald Trump claimed that the Secret Service and military insisted on him taking a different flight from Turkey, citing unspecified safety threats. On Tuesday, speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Washington after disembarking from Air Force One, Trump stated, "They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it.
I do what they say." The complex maneuver, reported by The Washington Post, was triggered by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. During the trip, White House staff and other government officials aboard Air Force One were led to believe the president was traveling with them back to the US from a NATO summit in Ankara. Trump acknowledged he flew on a different aircraft upon leaving Turkey, though he did not disclose the nature of the threat or the reasoning behind the military's decision to deem the regular presidential aircraft at greater risk.
The White House misled the public about the president's whereabouts, marking a significant breach of protocol.
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- Trump says Secret Service, military insisted on Air Force One decoy in Turkey scmp.com
- Trump on undisclosed plan to use decoy plane: ‘It’s up to Secret Service and military’ thehill.com
- Trump says he was at 'greater risk' on secret flight than decoy Air Force One abcnews.com
- Trump confirms Secret Service wanted him off Air Force One, claims plane faced ‘greater risk’ indianexpress.com
