Trump Survives Assassination Attempt During Turkey Visit by Secretly Switching Aircraft

Washington: US President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during his visit to Turkey last month by secretly switching aircraft and hiding in a food catering truck before leaving the country in a smaller C-32A jet, the Washington Post reported Monday. According to corroborating material reviewed by the Washington Post and the US official, while Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of cameras, he was secretly shuttled out minutes later into a smaller plane- the Air Force C-32A via an airport catering truck used typically to load meals and other supplies pre-flight. To exit that plane without being seen, Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated plane-side using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One’s entrance, according to the U.S. official and other corroborating material reviewed by the Washington Post. Hence, the Air Force One was a “decoy” with media and some members of the White House staff aboard, as per the official. The blue-and-white C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 used to transport American government officials, had been flown to Turkiye along with the legacy Air Force One and the former Qatari jet to support the president’s visit, the US official said. Defending the jet gifted by Qatar, White House Communications Director Steven Chueng said in a statement responding to a query by the Washington Post, “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” “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 to address those threats,” it added. It further mentioned that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also boarded the C-32 A separately, using external stairs in order to make the flight appear typical. According to the Washington Post, while no flight tracker data could be found for the C-32 A, videos posted on Youtube showed the former Qatari jet landing which was followed by a C-32A hours later and the legacy Air Force One several minutes later. It mentioned that while it was not clear how Trump moved from C-32 A to the legacy Air Force One after landing, the Washington Post said referring a media pool report that he exited the Air Force One at 10:56 PM. Trump was in Ankara to attend the NATO Summit with world leaders in July.