President Donald Trump was compelled to conceal himself inside an airport catering cart and was subsequently transported to a military aircraft for a clandestine flight out of Turkey, following intelligence suggesting an assassination attempt by Iran, a senior US official has revealed.
Departure from NATO summit
The president was departing the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, having arrived aboard a 747-8 gifted to him by Qatar. The public was left baffled when Trump chose a considerably less lavish aircraft for his journey home. At the time, he announced he would be taking an older plane back to the US, "for old times' sake."
The Qatari jet reportedly flew to a US military base in the United Kingdom without the US leader on board. However, the senior official told the New York Times that the president never actually boarded the older aircraft. Instead, it is claimed Trump was conveyed via a food cart fitted into the underside of the plane to a third aircraft, aboard which he travelled in complete secrecy to the UK.
White House response
The highly classified manoeuvre was initially reported by the Washington Post, though a White House spokesperson declined to respond to requests for comment. Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, had previously hinted that a threat against the president may have existed during his departure from Turkey.
"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 - including distraction and misdirection - to address those threats," Cheung said at the time. The White House's readiness to mislead the press regarding Trump's departure indicates they considered the threat from Iran to be genuine.
Iranian plot and US response
During the same week, Israel provided intelligence to the US, alerting them to a fresh Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump. At around the same period, the extremely fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran had started to collapse, with both nations launching strikes once more.
Trump has discussed candidly being a principal target for Iran, but maintained there would be repercussions should they make an attempt. Several days following his return from the NATO summit, he informed reporters that he was "number one on the kill list for Iran."
"1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one-year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran - PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!"
