WASHINGTON, United States: A secret operation that reportedly smuggled Donald Trump off Air Force One in a catering truck before the plane departed carrying journalists and top aides at apparent risk of an Iranian strike has raised questions over US security practices. The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump covertly exited the presidential plane while it was on the ground in Turkiye on July 8 as his security team deployed a scheme to evade an assassination threat.

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.

Officials viewed the Iranian threat as credible and used Air Force One as a decoy, while Trump was moved to a military C-32A; reporters were allowed to believe he was aboard the…