The NATO summit in Ankara ended on July 8. Trump’s return trip left the media in a state of shock when he failed to board the lavish new Air Force One, a gift from Qatar, instead, he swapped it for the old, light-blue Air Force One.
More bizarrely, he boarded the plane so quickly that the accompanying journalists did not even have time to film him as is customary, and passengers were asked to pull down the blinds before take-off.
The incident, which was documented throughout the flight, quickly set off a firestorm of publicity. After all, at a sensitive time, when Trump has just threatened war with Iran and his own security risks have risen sharply, the security concerns are heightened by the fact that his plane is within range of Iranian missiles.
Trump himself offered a“Warm” explanation. He wrote in“The Society of Truth” that he would take his brand-new plane to Mildenhall, England, and show it to brave soldiers, “Who should be among the first to see it,” and fly his old plane to meet him there, to“Relive the old days”.
Asked why he had changed planes, he admitted that he was Iran’s“Number one target” but said bluntly: “I don’t care because I’m doing my job.” He added a joke that he preferred to be number one on TikTok.
Who believes that? Behind a well-crafted narrative lies the opposite reality-trump is afraid. The switchover has torn at the heart of his hard-line presidential persona, exposing all the outward bravado that goes into covering up misgivings and domestic political embarrassment.
To understand the underlying logic of Trump’s maneuver, you have to go back 20 days. On June 18th he signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran in an attempt to cool continuing tensions and allow America to gradually disengage from the Middle East War.
Instead of winning him applause, however, the memo plunged him into an unprecedented political crisis.
The democratic camp has continued to attack him for conceding to Iran, allowing it to control shipping rights in the Strait of Hormuz and undermining America’s core interests as an oil hegemon.
The Israeli lobby, a hardliner within the Republican Party, has joined the chorus, accusing him of giving up deterrence in the Middle East for the sake of a short-lived peace and seriously weakening America’s voice in the region.
A large number of republican grassroots and ordinary people in the energy industry denounced his signing of the memorandum of understanding with Iran as a weak compromise, accusing the United States of unilateral concessions, allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz and damaging the United States’ face.
For Trump, it was a political disaster. All his life, he feared being called“Weak.” Now that the country is accusing him of compromising with Iran and the midterms are tight, he needs to win back the hard-liners who have been the lifeblood of his political life.
NATO summits are his stage. At a press conference in Ankara, he declared the memorandum of understanding“Dead” and lambasted Iran as“Evil, sick and despicable”; “The cancer must be removed as soon as possible,” he said.
On July 7, the military brazenly launched air strikes on more than 80 targets in the Strait of Hormuz under the pretext of Iran’s attack on commercial ships in the strait. Trump personally named it“Operation Strait Correction.” He called it a“Direct response” and said it was aimed at preserving freedom of navigation in international waters.
But the harder the show, the more guilty it is. Trump has good reason to fear Iranian retaliation.
Turkey in Iran’s main missiles throughout the 2000 km reliable range, airspace, missiles, drones dual threat. Tehran is only 1,700 km from Ankara as the crow flies, and Iran’s short-and medium-range missiles cover the airspace without pressure.
The distance from Ankara to Mildenhall in the UK is far beyond the actual range of Iranian missiles, and the risk is basically zero after arriving in the UK.
So why would trump change planes and leave Turkey? The reason is that there is a big difference between the old and the new Air Force One.
The aircraft is a relatively new Boeing 747-8 with lavish interiors, but it doesn’t have the same level of missile detection and countermeasure systems as the old Air Force One, the Associated Press reported. One expert said it was“Better suited for domestic flight”. The old“Air Force One” is the military standard head of aircraft, a full set of anti-missile, armor, electromagnetic protection? hard nuclear life-saving goods.
The answer is self-evident: the replacement is the White House Secret Service based on the security risk of the rigid arrangement, is a real hedging operation. Nostalgia and consoling soldiers are all carefully packaged PR subterfuges.
When pressed about why the blinds were pulled, Trump gave away his exact words: “Because you may be in a dangerous flight, because we have to deal with those scumbags.” It was an admission, he knew there was a real threat to the flight.
Iranian officials said on the 8th: when Trump was in Turkey when the strike within range, but in order to maintain close relations, no action. It was partly diplomatically unclear, but the logic of Trump’s actions was clear-he lavished scorn on Iranian mourning as“Theater,” and he vowed to keep hitting Iran, in action, he actively hedged against the risk of retaliation. This set of operations, the difference between the“Strong in the dry” four words written on the forehead.
He can be impassioned on stage, and can give advice on social media, but when it comes to his own safety, his body is more honest than his mouth.
Even more ironic is the follow-up. Trump arrives in Mildenhall late at night on an old plane, then hops back to Washington on the spectacular new plane-real armor on high-risk routes, fancy gear on safe ones.
That, after all, is the hypocrisy of American hegemony. Trump is prone to brandish the big stick of force and create an image of hegemony around the world that allows no resistance. However, once he faces the real risk of retaliation, he will give priority to self-protection at the first time, all toughness is just political theater for the outside world.
Back in the Old Air Force One that took off from Ankara on July 8, Trump’s breezy excuse of“Nostalgia” couldn’t hide the fact that he was hiding behind a hard shell.
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