The Trump catering truck escape happened on July 8 in Ankara, Turkey, and the people left behind on the plane had no idea. Trump walked up the stairs of the older blue and white Air Force One in full view of television cameras, waved, and stepped inside. Minutes later he slipped out a door on the far side of the aircraft into an airport catering truck that had been raised up to plane level. The truck lowered back to the ground, drove across the tarmac, and delivered him to a smaller military jet parked nearby. Reporters and White House staff stayed on the plane he had just left, still believing he was on board with them.
Video
The Washington Post broke the story Monday, citing a U.S. official and other material it reviewed. The New York Times published similar reporting the same day, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Officials told CBS News that the United States had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane. Trump had said during the NATO summit that he was Iran’s number one target. The smaller jet was a C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 that usually carries the vice president. The deception ran deeper than the truck itself. Every military aircraft flies under a call sign, which is the name air traffic controllers use to identify it on the radio. The C-32A carrying Trump used the call sign Reach 18, a generic military designation that would not draw attention. Meanwhile the plane carrying the press and staff kept broadcasting the Air Force One call sign, so anyone tracking the flight from the ground would believe Trump was still on it.There were signals on the tarmac that day, if anyone had known to read them. A producer with the White House Correspondents Association reported seeing two catering trucks positioned at the front and back of the plane when the press arrived. The press van had been too far back in the motorcade to get a photograph of Trump boarding at all. Then there was the flight itself. Reporters on board were told to close their window blinds. When Trump was later asked about that, he told them they were probably on a dangerous flight because of the “sleaze bags” the administration has to deal with. Asked directly whether there were security concerns around the plane swap, he said no.
The setup for all of this started before the flight. Trump had flown into Ankara on a brand new Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar, but he unexpectedly announced he would leave Turkey on the older Air Force One instead. His stated reason was that he was sending the new jet to a base in the United Kingdom so service members could tour it. Once he landed in Britain, Trump was photographed walking down the stairs of the old Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall before transferring to the Qatari jet for the trip back to Washington. It is still not clear how he got back onto the older plane to be seen coming off it.
On Tuesday, reporters asked Trump why it was considered too dangerous for him to fly on the usual presidential plane while it was apparently fine for the press. He said the plane he flew on was at “greater risk” because that was the one attackers would be more likely to go for. That answer does not address what actually happened, because by climbing the stairs in front of the cameras he created the impression that he was traveling on that jet, and then left without telling anyone still on it.
The Washington Post added another detail that has shaped how this is landing. The people who went into the catering truck with Trump were some of his most loyal aides. No top Cabinet officials made the move with him.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker put the criticism on the record with CNN’s Erin Burnett, saying Trump put people in harm’s way to save himself, and that he “slinked away literally in a catering truck” while reporters and his own staff sat on a plane that was reportedly under threat. The White House has not confirmed the plane switch. Communications Director Steve Cheung gave a statement saying that many enemies of America have their sights on Trump and that the administration uses every tool available to address those threats. Cheung also said the Qatari donated jet has been fitted with high level security protocols that keep Trump and his staff safe, which sits oddly next to the decision to leave it behind in the first place.
What makes the Trump catering truck story stick is not the spycraft. Presidents get moved in unusual ways when there is a threat, and the Secret Service had already urged him to leave Turkey on the older plane as a precaution. The part people are stuck on is the choice to perform the boarding for the cameras, then quietly exit, and let a plane full of journalists and staffers fly out under the presidential call sign with a missile threat hanging over it.
