Almost ten years since he first took office, it often feels like Donald Trump has lost his ability to surprise us. He says outrageous things on a daily basis, but we are inured to that. His family businesses grow rich while he’s in the White House, but what else is new? Even the US President falling asleep on camera in the Oval Office is starting to get old.
The Trump show has been going on for many seasons now, and most of its plot lines feel familiar – but now and then, something comes along to show that he hasn’t entirely lost his ability to shock.
On Tuesday evening, the Washington Post reported jaw-dropping details of how Trump flew from the Nato summit in Turkey to the UK last month – at a time when he faced a heightened security risk from groups linked to neighbouring Iran. US intelligence had reportedly received credible threats that there might be an attempt to shoot down the President’s plane.
After ostentatiously boarding Air Force One – waving to the camera as he did so – Trump was bundled into a catering truck and transferred to a different military plane. The entire operation was clandestine: “Air Force One” is usually the callsign for whatever plane the US president is aboard, but in this case, Trump travelled as “Reach 18” instead.
