Washington.- U.S. President Donald Trump was transported hidden in a cart used to carry luggage and personnel before leaving Turkey after participating in the NATO summit, on a return trip to the United States in which a second plane was used as a decoy due to the threat from Iran, local media revealed this Monday.
According to senior White House officials cited by The New York Times and The Washington Post, U.S. authorities developed a secret strategy to discreetly remove Trump from Turkey during the NATO summit held last month.
The plan was designed after intelligence services detected a credible threat from Iran against the presidential plane.
The threat was directed specifically against Air Force One, according to officials cited by both newspapers, so the security apparatus sought to prevent it from being determined which of the aircraft was carrying the president.
Transfer details
Trump was taken in a service cart from the area where he was located to a military plane that was waiting for his return to the United States.
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As part of the operation, another presidential plane also took off from Turkey to act as a decoy and make it difficult for potential attackers to identify the aircraft in which Trump was traveling.
The maneuver was part of a broader operation to conceal the leader’s movements and reduce the risk of him being located during the journey.
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At that time, Trump denied that the change of aircraft was in response to an Iranian threat and said that the new Air Force One would fly to the United Kingdom so that U.S. military personnel could see it.
When asked if there was a credible threat against the aircraft, he replied: “I have a threat all the time. I am number one on their list.”
