Air Force One Decoy: Who Was Sacrificed For Trump’s 'security'?
This week, United State of America, President Donal Trump was secretly moved off the Air Force One inside a catering truck and transferred to a C-32A military aircraft.
The incident, which saw President Trump boarded Air Force One in the view of television cameras, before hiding in a catering truck to be transported to a military aircraft.
The clandestine tactical move that happened last month (July 8th), came a day after the US renewed military strikes on Iran following a breakdown of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war.
President Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar. But there was change in protocol that; he would leave on the old Air Force One "for old time's sake".
Meanwhile, Air Force One still departed with Cabinet officials, White House staff, and the press team on board, reportedly after Israeli intelligence warned that Iran could target the presidential plane.
Was there a legitimate threat, or was this another case of faulty Israeli intelligence driving to escalate the ongoing war on Iran?
If the danger was really serious enough to remove the president, why key officials and staff were left aboard the original aircraft?
Owen Shroyer questions why only a small group, including; the executive assistant to the president; Natalie Harp, joined Trump on the C-32A, while officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Steven Cheung, and much of the senior White House entourage remained behind.
Did the Secret Service expose a presidential security operation to the world by allowing Air Force One, with the press pool on board, to take off despite the reported threat?
And is Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s departure connected to this incident, with Natalie Harp potentially taking her place?
Technically "Air Force One" is the call sign for any aircraft carrying the US president.
But on this occasion, the C-32A used the call sign "Reach 18", while the aircraft carrying the journalists continued to use "AF1" in order to keep up the ruse.
Remaining on the original aircraft were members of Trump's cabinet, according to the New York Times. The outlet, citing two anonymous officials, reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were on board.
On their way back to the US from Turkey, the American group stopped off in the UK at the RAF Mildenhall air base.
During the stop-over, Prrsident Trump transferred from the C-32A back to the legacy jet, though it it not clear how as this stealth move identically unfolded in secret.