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President Donald Trump said he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat that he insisted didn’t scare him.

When US intelligence allegedly found a credible threat that Iran plotted to kill him last month, Trump left Air Force One in a catering truck, an episode first reported by the Washington Post and also by the New York Times.

Trump downplayed the extraordinary nature of the subterfuge, as well as the risk to the people – White House officials, security and support staff, and reporters – he left on the plane, AP reported.

“They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane,” Trump told reporters after returning from an event in Ohio, saying he had little choice in the matter.

“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it,” he said. “I get a lot of threats.”

While the president was reportedly snuck out the side door of the plane, more than a hundred aides, officials and reporters were kept onboard to fly towards Britain, without being told there was a threat to their lives.

It comes as Democrats called for a congressional briefing over a stunning charade. Critics now question why reporters and the public had been deliberately misled.

“It appears that the idea was we can reduce the danger to president Trump by offering up 100 or so people to be killed by the Iranians in his place,” said Steven Cash, executive director of the Steady State and a former CIA intelligence officer and senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence branch.

Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, called the operation “unprecedented and surreal” and “downright scary” on CNN. “There has to be a congressional briefing because it involves not just the safety of the president.

“I want to know what precautions were taken to make sure that all of the passengers on that Air Force One, which was judged too dangerous for the president to fly on, what precautions were taken to keep the staff and reporters on that plane safe?”

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In other developments:

• David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, pulled off a last-minute victory after re-entering the Wisconsin governor’s race and snagging an endorsement from Tony Evers, the outgoing governor.The race came down to the wire, with Francesca Hong and Crowley running close to each other as each batch of results came in. Republican Tom Tiffany easily secured his party’s nomination.
• In Minnesota, lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan handily wonthe Democratic primary for US Senate, beating moderate US representativeAngie Craigin a race animated by anti-ICE sentiment. She will faceMichele Tafoyain the general.
• In the Republican bid for Minnesota governor, House speaker Lisa Demuth scored an upset, beating pillow salesmanMike Lindell, who had gotten Trump’s endorsement. She will faceAmy Klobucharin the general.

And in hotly contested congressional races:

• Luke Broninbeat incumbentJohn Larsonin Connecticut’s first congressional district.
• Matt Littlewon a three-way race in Craig’s district, Minnesota’s third congressional district.
• Michael Alfonso, the 26-year-old son-in-law of transportation secretarySean Duffy, won the Republican nomination in Tiffany’s district, Wisconsin’s seventh congressional district.
• Rebecca Cookewon the Democratic primary in her third try to unseatDerrick Van Ordenin Wisconsin’s toss-up third congressional district.