Israel provided the US administration with intelligence about the Iranian threat against US President Donald Trump, which included the possibility of using shoulder-fired missiles against Air Force One, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday evening, citing a US official.
According to the report, following the threat, Trump initially boarded, in full view of the media, an aircraft that had previously served as Air Force One.
Shortly afterward, however, a deception operation began: The president was placed inside an airport catering truck and driven out of sight of reporters to another aircraft, a smaller military C-32A parked nearby.
Trump then departed aboard the C-32A for a US base in the UK, under the pretext that troops stationed there wanted to take photographs with the Air Force One aircraft.
From there, he flew back to Washington.
The report detailed that the operation was kept so secret that even some members of Trump’s staff did not know he was traveling aboard the third aircraft.
For weeks, the impression was that Trump had returned from Turkey aboard the old Air Force One after the new presidential aircraft, which had been given to the US by Qatar, was flown separately to the UK.
In fact, journalists and some White House officials, including US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, boarded the aircraft believing that Trump was traveling with them as usual.
In reality, he had already been secretly transferred to another military aircraft and was flying separately.
The Iranian threat and the switch of aircraft were revealed last month, following initial denials, but the new report discloses for the first time the details of the deception operation carried out at the airport.
The White House declined to directly address most of the details in the report.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the new aircraft was equipped with “high-level security protocols” intended to ensure the safety of the president and his staff.
The Jerusalem Post