The catering truck used to conceal US President Donal Trump's excit from the legacy Air Force 1 when leaving Turkey after the Nato summit last month
Dan Lamothe, John Hudson, Andrew Ba Tran, Joyce Sohyun Lee
An Iranian assassination threat against President Donald Trump prompted an extraordinary operation last month in which he flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One.
The clandestine mission was carried out unbeknown to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as the president, according to a US official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the president’s travel who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The administration has claimed that Trump departed Turkey on July 8 on the former Air Force One. Trump announced on social media that he would use the “former Air Force One” rather than the plane that flew him there, a newer Boeing 747-8 gifted to the United States by Qatar. The security of the Qatar-provided aircraft has been called into question, and Trump said last month after the trip that it would undergo additional upgrades.
