Past comments made about the press by President Donald Trump are receiving renewed attention following reports that he clandestinely boarded a military plane while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey last month. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the media, repeatedly lashing out at reporters (usually women) during Oval Office pool sprays. But at a rally in Pennsylvania shortly before Election Day in 2024, he issued some derogatory remarks about the press while speaking about precautions taken by the Secret Service following his two assassination attempts.“All we really have over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news,” Trump said. “And I don’t mind that so much.”Then-campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denied to Politico at the time that Trump was wishing harm upon the media. “President Trump was brilliantly talking about the two assassination attempts on his own life, including one that came within 1/4 of an inch from killing him, something that the Media constantly talks and jokes about,” Cheung said. “The President’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else.”The revelation that Trump had secretly hidden inside a catering cart that transported him to a military plane amid a threat from Iran was first reported by The Washington Post on Monday. The previous aircraft he had boarded, which had the Air Force One call sign and carried White House pool reporters and White House staff members, was a “decoy.” The press was not made aware that Trump was no longer aboard the jet when it took off from Turkey en route to the United Kingdom, according to the Post. Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the Secret Service wanted him off Air Force One while leaving Turkey. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane,” Trump said. “I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats.”Trump added that he believed the plane that he was on “was at greater risk.” The Post’s report and Trump’s comments contradict previous administration statements about why the president switched from his newly refurbished Qatari-gifted Air Force One to the legacy plane he had previously used.