Maryland [US], August 12 : US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that he secretly switched planes while returning from the NATO Summit in Turkiye last month, in the wake of a "threat" to him at the behest of the Secret Service and the military, shortly after a Washington Post report on the incident.
Speaking to the media, Trump said he followed what the Secret Service and military told him to do and got on to a different flight.
"It's only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I did it. I do what they say. I guess there was a threat out there. I get a lot of threats," the US President said.
The acknowledgement by President Trump comes after the Washington Post had reported that shortly after attending the NATO Summit in Turkiye on July 8, Trump took a secret flight out of the country amid a threat of an Iranian assassination attempt.
The mission, which was not reported earlier, was carried out unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as President Trump, as per the material reviewed by the Washington Post, a US official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the President's travel who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Trump added, "This one went over to England where it was shown to the soldiers and they stopped and we showed it to the soldiers. We did a switch over there. It was as per the military and I just have to do what they say."
According to corroborating material reviewed by the Washington Post and the US official, while Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of cameras, he was secretly shuttled out minutes later into a smaller plane- the Air Force C-32A via an airport catering truck used typically to load meals and other supplies pre-flight.
To exit that plane without being seen, Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated plane-side using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One's entrance, according to the U.S. official and other corroborating material reviewed by the Washington Post.
Hence, the Air Force One was a "decoy" with media and some members of the White House staff aboard, as per the official.
When asked by the media whether it was dangerous to fly on Air Force One, Trump said, "I think actually the plane that I flew on was at a greater risk, because I think that would be the plane they would be more likely to go for."
Taking a dig at the past presidents, he added, "I have a lot of threats you don't know about. Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Non-consequential presidents don't get threatened. I think I am maybe the most consequential president. There's nobody that''s done more than me in a period of almost 6 years."
The blue-and-white C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 used to transport American government officials, had been flown to Turkiye along with the legacy Air Force One and the former Qatari jet to support the president's visit, the US official said as per the Washington Post report.