Iranian threat makes Trump hide in catering truck at NATO summit | Gravitas

While returning from the NATO summit in Turkiye a month ago, US President Donald trump took a rather unusual last-minute decision. Instead of boarding the newly retrofitted Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar, he claimed to have flown by the,

older Air Force One till Britain. If reports are to be believed though, this was a deception, which probably put life of journalists at risk. According to the New York Times and Washington Post, Trump secretly flew by a C-32a military jet,

in wake of threats from Iran.

Before switching to the Qatari jet in UK for the flight back to Washington DC, what unfolded in public eye though was another story altogether. Let's take you back to July 8. Take a look at these visuals. Here, trump is seen boarding the

Older Air Force One at the Ankara airport. He even waved from the door as cameras recorded his departure. In the next frame, you can see a catering truck parked near Air Force One. Minutes later, it pulled away from the spot as media personnel boarded the aircraft.

Thereafter, the footage appears to show the truck moving behind the plane towards the staircase leading to the C-32a military jet. This assumes significance as reports claimed that Trump was transported to the military jet in a catering truck. Now, the elaborate deception continued when the older Air Force One landed at UK's Mildenhall air base. While trump stepped off the plane about 40 minutes later, reports have now claimed that he was first secretly driven from the military aircraft to this plane which he boarded through a different entrance.

This gave the impression as if Trump had travelled on this jet. What makes this incident glaring though is that journalists travelling with Trump were kept in the dark about this secret plan. While the US Secret service has used

decoy motorcades and flights in the past to move presidents secretly, this raises some troubling questions. If the threat to Trump's life was credible, why were journalists allowed to board the older Air Force One jet? Don't journalists' lives matter for the Trump administration? Incidentally, Trump's version on this incident kept changing.

Initially, the US president claimed that he was taking the older Air Force One jet as the Qatari aircraft would travel to UK early so that US troops could tour it. Later, when asked whether security concerns had influenced his decision, he did not answer directly but acknowledged a serious threat to his life from Iran. Listen in to what he said back then.

When asked about the latest reports, this is what the Trump administration had to say. White House communications director Steven Cheung told the New York times and I am quoting him, "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 to address those threats". However, the White House was silent on why it potentially risked the lives of journalists. This comes at a time

when Trump has been struggling to convince Iran for a deal. Even as Iran has been unwilling to reopen Strait of Hormuz

for free passage of ships, Trump claimed that US has total control of this strategic waterway owing to its naval blockade. Riling Iran further, he demanded compensation for people it has allegedly killed over the decades. While Qatar stressed that talks between Oman and Iran on the future of shipping in Hormuz are at a critical point, it is apparent that a US-Iran deal is still far way considering the extent of their differences.