The White House press corps was instructed to keep the blinds on Air Force One closed during the flight back to the United States from Ankara, Turkey, last night.
Trump then announced that he would not fly back to the United States aboard Air Force One, prompting speculation about security concerns.
US President Donald Trump has grown tired of the way the regime in Tehran is behaving. On Wednesday, he told reporters several times that Iran is planning to murder him, and answered questions about possible security risks at a press conference after conspicuously changing his travel plans and choosing to travel aboard the old version of Air Force One, writes The Gateway Pundit.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump stated that Iran still has him marked for assassination, and he sharply criticised the Iranians, describing them as “evil, sick people”.
“They want to kill the leader of the United States, me – I am on everybody’s lists. I saw something this morning; I am on every single one of their lists. And so far, I suppose I have been lucky, but that may not last very long, because that is the situation.”
Trump described Iran as a cancer and said what was required: “You have to remove the cancer early.”
“I have been at the top of their list for years, and they are a bunch of scum,” Trump said earlier during the meeting.
On his usual platform, Truth Social, the president wrote:
To honour our brave men and women in the Armed Forces, we are sending the brand-new and truly spectacular Air Force One to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, to give them the opportunity to tour the aircraft. Everyone is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first. For old friendship’s sake, we will fly the former Air Force One from Turkey to Mildenhall, a short trip that is certainly worth making to give our great military heroes a chance to admire our beautiful new addition to the Air Force fleet! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Asked by the press whether there were any concerns connected with the new Air Force One, Trump said:
“Well, I talk about it a great deal, because, as you know, life as president is very dangerous. I am number one, so I do not know. I cannot say anything about that, but I do not really care, because I am doing my job, and I hope I am doing it better than anyone has ever done it.”
Trump’s enormous self-confidence, loved by his supporters and hated by his opponents, is evidently unaffected by threats.
The United States has resumed its attacks on Iran after several ships were subjected to Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media reported on Wednesday evening that explosions had occurred at several locations along the country’s south-eastern coast, including in the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, near Konarak and Chabahar, as well as in Bushehr Province.
President Donald Trump has little to gain and much to lose by breaking the agreement with Iran and resuming the war against the country, “experts” tell NTB.
– Trump signed an agreement on paper, but is now attempting to stretch it at sea, says the Iranian journalist and analyst Negar Mortazavi.
– That does not give the United States the right unilaterally to escort or organise shipping there, says Mortazavi, who is affiliated with the Center for International Policy (CIP) in Washington.
In the memorandum of understanding, Iran agreed to facilitate safe and free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, she writes on X, without mentioning the attacks on civilian vessels.
– Trump simply cannot afford to write off the memorandum of understanding with Iran. The alternative to that agreement is far less attractive to him, says Professor Ali Vaez, who heads the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group (ICG).
The usual Norwegian experts follow up.
– Trump has painted himself into a corner. It is the Iranians who hold the trump cards here, namely control over the Strait of Hormuz. They can live with the consequences of a closed Strait of Hormuz far longer than Trump can, former Chief of Defence Sverre Diesen tells NTB.
Eirik Løkke, who is affiliated with the think tank Civita, believes that high fuel prices will harm the president.
– This war is terribly unpopular in the United States, and high fuel prices are costing Trump dearly, says Løkke.
Løkke receives support from contributing editor Jan Arild Snoen.
– Many shipping companies have used the ceasefire to get their vessels out of the Persian Gulf, but it is highly uncertain whether they will send them back in, given the situation as it now stands.