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Trump Secretly Swapped Planes in Turkey Following Iranian Threat

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

14 sources across 10 countries

Who reported this

  • Sueddeutsche Zeitung Germany · Centre-left · Sudwestdeutsche Medien Holding
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • ANSA Italy · Centre · Publisher cooperative
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • Daily Maverick South Africa · Centre-left · Reader-funded
  • Business Day South Africa · Centre-right · Arena Holdings (Lebashe Investment Group)
  • The Independent United Kingdom · Centre-left · Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel and Evgeny Lebedev
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • Haaretz Israel · Left · Schocken family and M. DuMont Schauberg
  • Asahi Shimbun Japan · Centre-left · Asahi Shimbun Company (family and employee held)
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA

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 secretly departed Turkey on a military aircraft instead of Air Force One following a NATO summit in Ankara last month. The operation was triggered by a credible assassination threat from Iran, according to reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times. To maintain the deception, Trump publicly boarded an older, baby blue Air Force One jumbo jet in front of television cameras. Minutes later, he was secretly transferred to a smaller C-32A military aircraft via a hydraulic airport catering truck used for loading meals and supplies.

Journalists and some White House staff members boarded the older Air Force One, unaware that the president had already left the aircraft. These individuals effectively served as decoys. Press pool members reported being instructed to keep their window shades closed during the flight. When later questioned about the shades, Trump told reporters they were probably on a dangerous flight because of the people the U.S. has to deal with, adding that he is number one on Iran's list.

Trump had arrived in Ankara aboard a newly renovated Boeing 747 donated by Qatar. He had publicly stated he would use the older Air Force One for the return leg for old time's sake, while the new plane flew ahead to the United Kingdom so service members could tour it. The C-32A carrying the president arrived at RAF Mildenhall in the UK around 10:20 p.m. with the decoy aircraft and media arriving minutes later. Trump was later seen descending from the older Air Force One at 10:56 p.m. before transferring to the Qatari-donated jet for the final leg to Washington.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung did not directly confirm the secret swap but stated that the Qatari-donated jet is a state of the art aircraft with high level security protocols. He added that the administration uses every tool available to address threats from enemies of America. The Secret Service and the Pentagon declined to comment or referred inquiries to the White House.

How each side framed it

Left
This outlet framed the event as a deception operation triggered by escalating hostilities with Iran.
Centre-left
These outlets highlighted the absurdity of the situation, describing the event as a ruse or a scene from a spy thriller.
Centre
These outlets focused on the factual sequence of events and the official responses from the White House.
Centre-right
These outlets emphasized the security necessity of the operation and the credible nature of the Iranian threat.

Sources

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