Trump confirms changing planes over possible threat when leaving Turkey
US President Donald Trump confirmed today that he left Turkey on a different aircraft last month after the Secret Service and military instructed him to change planes because of a security threat.
“I’m just following their instructions. So I’m acting on the orders of the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to fly on a different flight, on a different plane,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. “I just have to do what they say.”
“I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about. Any consequential presidents have a lot of threats,” he added.
The Washington Post first reported the incident on Aug 10, saying Trump secretly departed Turkey after a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara on Jul 7-8.
Trump initially boarded the older Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, according to the newspaper. Later, he was secretly transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A aircraft in an airport catering truck normally used to load meals and other supplies before flights.
A video that later circulated on social media showed a catering truck driving away from Air Force One, corroborating the claim.
The White House had said the president was aboard Air Force One as he left the country.
Turkey had introduced extensive security measures ahead of the summit. Authorities closed many major roads, detained more than 200 people before the event, repaved roads and installed panels along routes the leaders were expected to travel.
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