Travelling from Ankara on Air Force One — without the US president
FROM the beginning, something didn’t add up.
In July, while attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Leaders Summit in Ankara, United States President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced he would not be returning home aboard the new presidential plane that had been gifted to the administration by Qatar. Instead, he claimed the aircraft had been sent ahead to Mildenhall Air Force Base in England for service members to tour.
Trump explained that he would fly to Mildenhall on an older Air Force One, without specifying how he would ultimately reach Washington. Initially, journalists assumed the altered itinerary was due to security concerns, specifically the possibility that Iran might attempt to assassinate the president. This speculation was further fueled by Trump's repeated comments about Iran's threats against him during the summit.
As the group boarded the aircraft presumed to be carrying the president, Secret Service instructed journalists to close their window shades. Later, it was revealed that this was part of a covert operation designed to conceal Trump's actual departure method from the Qatari-provided plane. Upon landing in England, the group's flight took another unexpected turn as Trump exited the plane from a different section than the journalists.
The White House later revealed that Trump had not traveled with them, and clarified that the threat from Iran was indeed a factor in his decision to use the different aircraft. However, Trump denied this reason.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
