The White House offered an explanation Thursday as to why President Trump used the older model of Air Force One to leave the NATO summit in Turkey instead of the newer model that had been gifted from Qatar.
“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,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“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 — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats,” the statement said.
Mr. Trump flew on the new Air Force One, which went into service for the first time on July 3, to Ankara for the NATO summit.
He then took the older model for the trip to the American Air Force base in Mildenhall, England, and switched back to the new plane for the last leg to the U.S.
The president said in a Truth Social post that he wanted to show off the new Qatari-gifted plane to U.S. service members stationed at Mildenhall.
“So the soldiers can see it. It’s truly magnificent,” Mr. Trump said, offering no further explanation.
The unusual decision touched off a firestorm of speculation from media outlets, with some saying it was because of an assassination threat from Iran, and others suggesting the new plane was unsafe.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Mr. Trump used the old plane as a precautionary measure on the advice of the Secret Service and not because of a specific threat. Citing people familiar with the new plane’s safety features, the NYT said it doesn’t have all the features of the older plane.
A Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment, referring to Mr. Trump’s post on social media.
Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Trump hinted at possibly being killed by Iranian assassins as the conflict with the Mideast nation rages.
He declared the ceasefire with Iran “over” and ordered new strikes after Iran was accused of striking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” Mr. Trump said of Iranian leaders. “I’m on every single one of their lists. I guess so far I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long, because that’s the way it goes.”
“I’m No. 1 on the kill list for Iran,” he said later.
Reporters on the old Air Force One were told to keep their window blinds closed during the flight from Turkey to the U.K., but weren’t told why.
When asked about why they had to do that, Mr. Trump told reporters it was probably due to the “sleazebags over here.” He pointed toward the border shared between Iran and Turkey.
