Reports: Trump took secret flight from Turkey last month amid threats from Iran

Aug. 11 (UPI) — The White House said President Donald Trump was on Air Force One when he left Turkey last month but he secretly was on a different aircraft as a precaution amid threats from Iran.

The New York Times, Washington Post and CNN reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that Trump flew on a smaller aircraft due to threats from Iran to ******inate him.

Trump was caught on video boarding what the White House said was his flight to the United States but he secretly switched planes, boarding a smaller Air Force C-32A.

The aircraft the White House said Trump was an older Air Force One plane, a modified Boeing 747. He was then said to switch to the aircraft gifted to him by Saudi Arabia in Britain.

Meanwhile reporters remained on the aircraft they thought Trump was on, accompanied by White House staffers. That flight was a decoy.

The operation marked a rare occasion for presidential flights as presidents are typically accompanied by reporters on flights. It took place after peace talks between the United States and Iran broke down.

President George W. Bush similarly took an undisclosed fight after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Bush’s location was not disclosed for hours as a safety precaution. Notably officials did not claim Bush was somewhere that he was not as the White House did with Trump’s Turkey departure.

Trump was in Turkey to meet with other world leaders at a NATO summit last month.