Donald Trump was reportedly smuggled off Air Force One in a catering truck during a dramatic security ruse to protect him from a potential Iranian assassination threat on July 8. The deception operation took place as the president was flying back from a Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey on July 8. Footage from the night shows Mr. Trump boarding a former Air Force One jumbo jet through the left-side door, in view of cameras and news organisations. He is then reportedly shuttled minutes later into a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load food and supplies onto aircraft, according to a US official who spoke to the Washington Post. Members of the press on the plane were not informed that Trump would be flying separately, turning them along with some White House staff into unwitting decoys.

Donald Trump let the press pool and some of his staff think he was on Air Force One, while really he had been smuggled in a catering cart onto a different plane.

The White House said the president was aboard Air Force One as he left the NATO summit. Instead, his departure included an elaborate ruse and a “decoy” plane that concealed his…