Over the years, US President Donald Trump has been hustled through back entrances, taken underground, moved in an armoured golf cart and, most recently, reportedly smuggled across an airport in a catering truck.
Some involved genuine security threats. Others were prompted by protests. And one was apparently just about getting dinner without the press finding out.
The Catering Truck That Fooled The Press
The strangest episode came last month in Turkey, when Trump’s security team reportedly went to extraordinary lengths to conceal his movements amid a credible Iranian assassination threat.
Trump had arrived in Ankara for the NATO summit aboard the newly renovated Boeing 747 donated by Qatar. Before leaving Turkey, he announced that he wanted to travel back to Britain on the older, familiar presidential 747 “for old time’s sake”.
He even dismissed suggestions that there was a security reason behind the decision.
But after Trump boarded the aircraft in full view of reporters, the plan changed.
According to The Washington Post, Trump was quietly taken off the 747 and driven across the airport in an airport catering truck. He was then transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A and flown separately to Britain.
The 747, meanwhile, continued on its planned journey as a decoy.
The deception was apparently convincing enough to fool even some White House staff. Reporters travelling on the aircraft were told to keep their window shades closed, believing the president was still somewhere aboard.
The reason for the elaborate operation was reportedly intelligence about a credible Iranian threat against Trump.
When asked if that had anything to do with the switch in aircraft, he replied, “I don’t know. I can’t tell you that but I don’t really care.”
The White House has not publicly confirmed the catering-truck operation. Communications director Steven Cheung instead defended the security measures surrounding the presidential aircraft.
He called the new Air Force One “a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff.”
Cheung added, “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.”
Trump eventually reunited with his entourage in Britain and continued home aboard the Qatari aircraft.
The travelling press only discovered the real sequence of events weeks later.
The Backdoor Route Into A Republican Convention
In April 2016, while campaigning for president, Trump was due to speak at the California Republican convention at the Hyatt Regency near San Francisco International Airport.
Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the hotel and blocked the route of his motorcade.
So Trump went in another way. His motorcade left Highway 101, and Trump climbed over a low wall behind the hotel. A CBS News helicopter captured the unusual entrance from above, showing police, barriers and fencing surrounding the property.
It looked less like the arrival of a billionaire presidential candidate and more like an elaborate attempt to sneak into a building.
Trump himself acknowledged the absurdity once he reached the stage.
“That was not the easiest entrance I’ve ever made,” he told the crowd.
The White House Bunker
On May 29, 2020, protests over the killing of George Floyd reached the White House perimeter. Demonstrators gathered outside as tensions rose and objects were thrown at barricades.
The Secret Service moved Trump into the underground emergency bunker beneath the White House, according to the Associated Press. He remained there for nearly an hour.
A presidential bunker exists precisely for situations like this. But the revelation quickly became political ammunition for Trump’s critics, who began referring to him as “Bunker Boy”.
Trump pushed back against the suggestion that he had retreated from protesters.
He said the visit underground had been “more for an inspection”.
The Armoured Golf Cart
On September 15, 2024, Trump was playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach when a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle protruding through a fence roughly 400 yards away.
The agent opened fire toward the suspected gunman.
Trump was on the fifth hole, preparing a birdie putt with real-estate investor Steve Witkoff, who later became Trump’s Middle East envoy. According to an account Witkoff gave to political commentator Sean Hannity, agents immediately surrounded Trump with their bodies.
Then, an armoured “fast cart” fitted with steel reinforcement and other protective features was brought in to move Trump away from the area. Agents took him to the clubhouse before returning him to Mar-a-Lago.
Trump later recalled hearing four or five shots.
“We got into the carts, and we moved along pretty, pretty good,” he said.
But even during an apparent assassination attempt, there was one thing Trump regretted leaving behind.
“I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, let’s get out of here,” he said.
The Steakhouse Escape
A week after winning the 2016 presidential election, Trump was still getting used to the strange logistics of life as president-elect, including the fact that a small group of journalists was expected to keep track of his movements.
On November 15, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told reporters at around 6:15 pm that Trump had returned to Trump Tower for the evening. A “lid” had been called, meaning reporters no longer expected him to make another public appearance that night.
Trump promptly left for dinner. He and his family went to the 21 Club in Midtown Manhattan without the protective press pool.
Once reporters realised what had happened, they scrambled to find him.
One group took a cab to the wrong restaurant. Others eventually reached the 21 Club, only to find police blocking the entrance. Reporters without press credentials were pushed back by a block, with a dumpster partially obstructing their view.
Hicks said she had not known about the dinner and had not intended to leave the press “in the dark”.
The incident, nevertheless, renewed concerns from the White House Correspondents’ Association about Trump’s lack of a regular protective press pool, a system intended to ensure journalists can quickly locate and report on the president in an emergency.
