US President Donald Trump was secretly taken out of the airport during the NATO summit in Turkey using a catering truck, after which he was transferred to a small military plane, CNN reports, quoted by Focus.
According to the media, Israel provided the CIA with information about a possible Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. At the same time, some American officials were skeptical of this data and expressed doubts about both its reliability and Iran's ability to carry out such a plan.
Before Trump's visit, American intelligence had not found any specific signs of a new assassination plot. At the same time, American officials have recorded constant calls from Iranian representatives for the death of the US president.
It is also known that the American side has received information that Iran knows which hotel in Ankara Trump is staying at, as well as that it has detailed information about the movement of his motorcade.
Among the possible attack scenarios, the use of a portable anti-aircraft missile system to hit the presidential plane was considered.
During the summit, additional information emerged about a possible threat to the Air Force One aircraft from a missile that could have been launched from the ground near the airport.
The US secret services decided not to ignore the potential threat.
Initially, some security service representatives suggested that Trump be removed from Turkey prematurely. However, the president decided to stick to the planned schedule and held meetings with world leaders, in particular with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
After the press conference, Trump traveled to the airport. It was decided to hide his actual route.
The US authorities decided not to use the new Boeing 747, a gift from Qatar and intended for future use as Air Force One. The usual presidential plane was also not suitable for this purpose.
Instead, Trump was loaded into a white catering truck. Inside the vehicle were the president, his assistant Natalie Harp, Oval Office Operations Director Walt Nauta, White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Secret Service agents.
The truck traveled down the runway for 162 seconds, after which Trump transferred to a C-32A military aircraft.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, and other senior administration officials remained on the large presidential plane.
Many of the staff on board were not even aware that Trump was missing. They were ordered to lower the window blinds.
The plane with the president then departed for Mildenhall Air Force Base in the United Kingdom. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also on board the plane.
Both planes were escorted by fighter jets, indicating that the US military took the potential threat to the presidential plane extremely seriously.
The Secret Service did not comment on specific details of the operation, but said it constantly analyzes a wide range of intelligence information to protect the president.
After Trump's departure for Turkey, no evidence was found that a specific missile attack was actually being prepared.