Trump hid in catering cart to board secret flight in Turkey amid Iran threat - reports

Prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey last month when the White House said he was flying aboard Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse that involved hiding the president in an airport catering cart, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times. Elaborate ruse was used to transport president to military flight from Air Force One to return from Nato meet. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post. A US official told the Post that a credible threat to Trump involving Iran set the 'deception operation' in motion. After Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara, he was secretly shuttled to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A, the Post reported citing a US official familiar with the operation and corroborating material it reviewed. The C-32A carrying Trump flew to Britain, arriving at around 10.20pm local time with the older Air Force One and media arriving minutes later, the Post reported. When asked later by reporters why they had to keep their shades shut during the flight, Trump said it was because they were 'probably on a dangerous flight'. He went onto say: 'But if I go, you go. Right?' Trump's traveling press pool reported he climbed down the stairs of the older Air Force One at 10.56pm local time. Asked for comment, White House communications director Steven Cheung said: "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." A similar operation had taken place in 2000, when Bill Clinton used an unmarked executive jet to fly into Pakistan while sending his formal Air Force One as a decoy.