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Donald Trump was smuggled off Air Force One in a catering truck in Turkey last month after reports of an Iranian assassination plot, it has been revealed.
The US president was bunded into an alternative military plane and flown out following the NATO summit in Ankara, according to The Washington Post.
The White House press corps and even some senior aides on board Air Force One fell for the ruse, thinking Trump was on board with them for the journey back to Washington.
Several reports last month claimed intelligence sources had flagged concerns about a potential attack on the president or his plane.
While Trump was in Turkey, the US carried out a series of large strikes in Iran in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region.
He had flow to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy-blue jet.
But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.
At the time, he said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure to give some US troops based in England a chance to check out the new Air Force One.
Trump boarded the old Air Force One full view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.
But the Post reports he was secretly shuttled off again minutes later and escorted to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies.
Trump flew to Mildenhall on that smaller jet.
On arrival, photographers captured Trump getting off the presidential plane — suggesting he was smuggled back onto Air Force One in a similar ruse.
The White House did not respond directly to questions about the Post report, but White House communications director Steven Cheung previously commented: ‘As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats’.
Paul Eckloff, a former special agent with the Secret Service, said such an unusual move could either reflect actionable intelligence or an abundance of caution given volatility in the region with the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
He told the Associated Press: ‘I would not say unprecedented, but it is an unusual occurrence.’
During a gaggle with reporters aboard the aircraft, Trump was asked directly if there were any credible threats on Air Force One by Iran.
‘Well, I have a threat all the time. I’m number one on their list before you,’ Trump said.
He added to the traveling reporters: ‘But if I go, you go.’