The US president arrived in Dublin on the controversially gifted Boeing aircraft given to him by the Qatari royal family. The $400m ‘palace in the sky’ was converted for presidential use, but questions remain over how well equipped it is to protect the president from potential threats. During a trip to Turkey in July, Trump was reportedly moved off the aircraft after a possible Iranian threat, while other senior officials and journalists remained on board.
As the Guardian’s Joseph Gedeon reports, the circumstances surrounding the incident were rather dramatic: It later emerged that Trump had in fact been spirited away via a catering truck on to a separate, older aircraft after officials learned of a possible Iranian threat in Ankara, leaving the plane he had boarded to fly on as a decoy. Aboard the original, possibly targeted flight were the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent; several senior aides; and the traveling press pool – the latter, who were definitely not told about the threat, were asked to keep their window shades closed.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
