Trump plane swap: Schumer seeks Iran threat briefing

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Tuesday for Congress to be briefed on Iranian threats against Donald Trump and the measures reportedly used to move him off Air Force One in Turkey, after reports that journalists and senior aides flew on the presidential plane without knowing he was no longer aboard.

The Washington Post reported that Trump covertly left Air Force One while it was on the ground in Turkey on July 8 as his security team used a plan meant to evade an assassination threat. The newspaper said Trump boarded the presidential aircraft in view of cameras and photographers, then quickly left through a supply container and boarded a smaller US Air Force aircraft nearby.

AFP photographs showed two supply containers on hydraulic lifts at the front and rear of the plane.

About a dozen journalists traveling in a separate section of Air Force One had no access to the president and were unaware of the reported switch. Some traveling media expressed anger that they had unknowingly served as decoys, while others complained about deception and lack of communication from the White House.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had briefed the United States about a possible shoulder-to-air missile strike on Air Force One. It said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among senior officials and staff who remained on the plane.

Pool media dispatches from the flight said the Secret Service ordered window shades lowered during takeoff, an instruction described as unusual outside combat zones.

Trump said at the time that the blinds were lowered “because you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with.” He also told reporters: “If I go, you go. Right?”

The White House has not directly responded to the alleged plane swap. White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement that “many enemies of America” had Trump in their sights and that officials used every available tool to address threats.

Trump’s trip to the NATO summit had already drawn attention because he arrived on a luxury Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar and retrofitted to carry the US president. AFP reported that the aircraft was not fitted with anti-missile security systems and that the older Air Force One was called into action. At a stopover in Britain, Trump returned to the Qatar-gifted plane for the flight to Washington.