Trump says his plane faced 'greater risk' in secret flight change
Trump says he followed Secret Service advice in secretly switching planes in Turkey amid an alleged assassination threat
Highlights:
- Trump says he was following direction of Secret Service in switching planes
- President secretly switched to military plane in Turkey
- Journalists and White House staff flew on Air Force One plane without the president
US President Donald Trump said today (12 August) he secretly switched planes in Turkey last month at the direction of the US Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One.
Following a Nato summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, US media reported.
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The White House did not disclose the change and it remained a secret until the Washington Post first reported it on Monday.
Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump's aides and journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president.
"I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
"I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for."
Trump was accompanied by several close aides when he secretly transferred from Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft in Turkey last month, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, executive assistant Natalie Harp and Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta made the move in the catering truck with Trump, along with several lower-profile aides, the Post reported.
No Cabinet officials joined Trump in the truck, according to the newspaper.
After a day of social media memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck, the image-conscious president, who often promotes memes of himself as a bold and courageous leader, said he was following the direction of the Secret Service, the agency that protects the president.
"I just follow what the Secret Service would like to do, so I go by the Secret Service and the military. I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats." Trump Says
