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Trump Confirms Secret Plane Swap in Turkey Following Iranian Threat

morning · · thread: Netanyahu Travels to Washington for Meeting with President Trump on Iran

28 sources across 18 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • elDiarioAR Argentina · Centre-left · Newsroom-majority owned, membership funded
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • La Nacion Argentina · Centre-right · Saguier family
  • G1 Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Globo (Marinho family)
  • UOL Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Folha
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Haaretz Israel · Left · Schocken family and M. DuMont Schauberg
  • The Times of Israel Israel · Centre · Seth Klarman (majority backer)
  • The Jerusalem Post Israel · Centre-right · Mirkaei Tikshoret (Eli Azur)
  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery
  • Al-Monitor United States · Centre · Jamal Daniel
  • Bloomberg United States · Centre · Bloomberg L.P. (Michael Bloomberg)
  • The Daily Star Bangladesh · Centre · Mediaworld Ltd
  • Politico Europe Belgium · Centre · Axel Springer SE
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • Der Spiegel Germany · Centre-left · ~50% staff-owned
  • South China Morning Post Hong Kong · Centre-right · Alibaba Group
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • The Japan Times Japan · Centre · News2u Holdings
  • Premium Times Nigeria · Centre · Premium Times Services Ltd
  • Aftenposten Norway · Centre-right · Schibsted, Tinius Trust foundation
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • The Korea Herald South Korea · Centre-right · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he secretly switched aircraft upon departing a NATO summit in Turkey on July 8 due to a security threat. According to reports first published by The Washington Post, the president boarded the traditional Air Force One jet in view of cameras but was then covertly moved into an airport catering container. This container transported him to a smaller C-32A military aircraft, while Air Force One departed with journalists and White House staff acting as unwitting decoys. Trump stated that he followed the instructions of the Secret Service and the military, noting that he does what they say. He added that he was not worried about the threats, asserting that any consequential president receives many of them.

Reports indicate the operation was prompted by a credible assassination threat from Iran. During the flight, journalists on Air Force One were instructed to keep their window shades lowered, a measure typically reserved for combat zones. Trump later claimed that the smaller plane he actually flew on may have been at greater risk because it would be a more likely target. The event also drew attention to a luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the U.S. by Qatar. While Trump initially claimed he used the older Air Force One for old time's sake to allow troops in Britain to tour the new plane, other reports suggest the Qatari aircraft lacked the anti missile security systems of the older jet.

Outlets with a center left lean highlighted the deception of the press and the potential improvisation of the security apparatus. Center right sources focused more on Trump's dismissal of the threat and his assertions of U.S. control over the Strait of Hormuz. Center outlets emphasized the operational details of the ruse and the historical precedent of previous presidents using secret flights for security.

How each side framed it

Left
Framed the event around the president's admission that he followed security orders and the use of staff as decoys.
Centre-left
Emphasized the deception of the press and the potential nervousness or improvisation of the security apparatus.
Centre
Focused on the operational details of the ruse and historical precedents for presidential secret flights.
Centre-right
Highlighted Trump's confidence in the face of threats and his claims of U.S. military dominance in the region.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.