US President Donald Trump secretly left Turkey last month on a military aircraft while the White House maintained he was flying on Air Force One. The reason, according to an American outlet that saw the documents: an Iranian assassination threat.

The scenario is almost cinematic. Trump boarded the old, light-blue Air Force One in Ankara in front of the cameras. Then, at the airport itself, he was transferred by a food delivery vehicle to a smaller aircraft, a C-32A. The old presidential plane took off as a decoy - with the journalists inside.

The journalists flew in an empty plane

Those who thought they were flying with the president were instructed to lower the blinds on the windows in the press section. Not only the journalists - part of the White House staff also believed Trump was on board. When they later asked why they had to sit with the blinds down, Trump's answer was that it was probably because the flight was dangerous. Then he added: "But if I go, you go too. Right?"

The C-32A landed in Britain at around 10:20pm, and the old Air Force One with the journalists a few minutes later. Exactly how Trump moved back from one plane to the other remains unclear.

Three planes and one question

Trump arrived in Ankara on the recently refurbished aircraft donated by Qatar, and unexpectedly left on the old one. That raised a question bigger than the operation itself: how safe is the new plane? It is a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar, refitted by a defence company, painted red, white, dark blue and gold to Trump's own specifications. It was meant to serve temporarily until Boeing delivers the new Air Force One - a delivery running years late.

The White House issued a statement saying America has many enemies keeping the president in their sights and that every means is used to defend against those threats. The Pentagon is so far silent.

An operation like this isn't a first. In 2000 Bill Clinton travelled to Pakistan on an unmarked aircraft while the official Air Force One served as a decoy. The difference is that back then nobody claimed on social media to be flying the old plane "for old times' sake" - which is exactly what Trump wrote before take-off.

So the announcement wasn't merely an oversight, it was part of the cover. The question that remains is simple: if the security service considers the threat serious enough to hide the president in a food delivery vehicle, why was that same service willing to put the journalists in the plane that was the target?