Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump was put in a food truck after he boarded Air Force 1 in Turkey and smuggled to a military jet to take him to Britain because of “credible threats” against his official plane, according to media reports.
After he publicly boarded the Air Force 1 in Ankara under the glare of the media last month, he and some key aides got into a catering truck that had been raised to the level of the plane, The Washington Post reported.
He was moved to a car from the food truck, which “had been fitted to the belly of the plane”, and taken to a smaller C32A military jet, The New York Times said.
He and the small group of aides flew to the British Air Force base Mildenhall, where he switched to the Qatari-donated plane for the next leg of the flight to the US, both newspapers reported, quoting unnamed officials.
Meanwhile, the other officials and the reporters, who had boarded Air Force 1, flew on the older plane to Britain and joined Trump on the onward trip, oblivious to Trump having made the switch.
Journalists on the plane reported that they had been asked to keep the windows closed during the flight.
The White House did not confirm or deny the reports about the operation that sounds like a spy thriller, but White House communications director Steven Cheung hinted that the president’s trip faced security issues requiring special measures.
He 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”.
