It has belatedly been confirmed that when U.S. President Donald Trump left Turkey, where the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit was held last month, he carried out a covert "disguise and escape" operation reminiscent of an espionage movie due to an assassination threat from Iran.
The U.S. daily The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 10th (local time) that, contrary to the White House's official announcement when President Trump left Ankara, Turkey, on the 8th of last month, he boarded a military aircraft, a C-32A, in disguise instead of the presidential aircraft (Air Force One) and headed to the United Kingdom.
At the time, President Trump boarded the older Air Force One at Ankara Airport under the spotlight of the media.
However, a few minutes later, President Trump and a few key aides secretly climbed into the container of a catering truck connected to the opposite door of the aircraft. The hydraulic cylinders on this truck operate by raising and lowering the container to the height of the airliner's boarding door.
After getting off Air Force One via the container, President Trump immediately transferred to a C-32A waiting nearby.
Prior to this report, the White House press corps believed that President Trump was heading to the U.K. while boarded on Air Force One with them. Reporters aboard Air Force One were reportedly instructed to close their window shades so they would not notice the situation at the time.
Ultimately, Air Force One, carrying reporters and White House staff, served as a "decoy" to divert any potential attacks against President Trump from Iran, according to WP.
The C-32A transport carrying President Trump flew to RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. with its tracking system turned off and using the mundane call sign "Reach 18" instead of "Air Force One," the air traffic control call sign assigned to aircraft carrying the U.S. president.
Upon arriving in the U.K., President Trump hastily transferred back to Air Force One without the press noticing, before appearing in front of cameras to encourage U.S. service members.
Afterwards, he transferred to a new Air Force One, donated and refurbished by Qatar, and returned to the United States.
At the time, it was only known that based on the assessment of an Iranian assassination threat, President Trump took the older Air Force One from Turkey to the U.K. and switched to the new Air Force One there.
Going beyond what was previously known, WP reported that the extreme deception operation in which President Trump secretly switched to a military plane and flew from Turkey to the U.K. was due to a specific assassination threat from Iran.
While talking with reporters for about 15 minutes on the new Air Force One, President Trump emphasized the Iranian assassination threat, but made no mention of the preceding deception operation.
Regarding the order given at the Turkish airport for reporters to lower their cabin window shades, he answered, "Because we were taking a dangerous flight because of those dirty people we have to deal with."
(Produced by JIN Sang-myeong | Video by RYU Ji-su | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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