US President Donald Trump has admitted to secretly switching planes during his trip from Turkey last month over concerns about a potential Iranian attack.
Mr Trump told reporters that the last-minute switch was the decision and response of the US military to the potential threat.
“I go by the Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane. I just have to do what they say.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. Any consequential president has a lot of threats. I don’t worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is, you know my attitude, ‘Whatever,” he said.
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Reports of a plot to evade a potential Iranian assassination threat during Mr Trump’s return from the NATO summit surfaced on Tuesday.
American news media reported that Mr Trump secretly switched from Air Force One, the old presidential Jimbo jet, to an alternate military aircraft. He had walked into Air Force One in view of the camera and was subsequently moved by the military aircraft identified by the Washington Post as Air Force C-32A.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that Mr Trump’s trip from Ankara came a day after the US began its 13 consecutive-day military strikes on Iran.
He also said he was Iran’s “number one target” during the summit in Ankara. This paper reports that Iran’s supreme leader has also previously vowed revenge for the elimination of his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a US-Israeli joint strike in February.
The US leader arrived in Turkey in a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet donated by Qatar last year.
The security of the Qatar-provided aircraft was called into question in July. However, Mr Trump said the plane would undergo additional upgrades.
Hours before his departure on 8 July, Mr Trump announced he would leave Ankara aboard the old Air Force One rather than the new Qatari jet on which he arrived.
Footage captured by the press showed the president walking into the old Air Force One, with the catering truck visible on the other side of the jet.
However, several minutes later, the truck pulled away and drove off to the military plane.
The Post reported that Mr Trump then flew from Ankara to a refuelling stop in the United Kingdom on that military aircraft, unbeknownst to the journalists and White House officials who were travelling with him and were aboard Air Force One.
The BBC reports that the officials and press members believed they were on board the same aircraft as the president.
The journalists and some White House officials aboard Air Force One were told to keep their window shades shut. It was an unusual request.
When he reached the UK, he reboarded the old Air Force One and was subsequently seen descending from the aircraft after it landed at RAF Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, England.
It is unclear how he moved from the C-32A back to the legacy jet.
Mr Trump was subsequently transferred to the new Qatari-donated Air Force One for his trip to Washington.
During that flight, he mentioned concerns about the Iranian threats during his conversation with the press, but left out the earlier plane swap.
When asked why reporters were instructed to lower the window shades on the plane from Turkey, he said, “Because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with.”