Inside Trump's sneak Thanksgiving trip to Afghanistan
(CNN)On Thanksgiving eve, President Donald Trump
slipped unnoticed out of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on his way to
a bare-bones military plane with just a handful of top aides.
Sixteen hours later, he touched down for the first time in Afghanistan, on just his second visit to a war zone as President after a similar Christmas Eve trip last year to Iraq.
The
16-hour trip -- plus the three more Trump spent on the ground at Bagram
Air Field north of Kabul -- were shrouded in secrecy under the protocol
that a war zone visit by the US commander in chief demands. At 2 p.m.
on Thursday, reporters traveling with the President were authorized to
report on his visit, minutes before Air Force One took off to return
Trump to Florida.
Trump's
trip began late Wednesday evening. After quietly leaving Mar-a-Lago,
the President boarded a military plane at an undisclosed airport and
took off at 7:20 p.m. en route to Joint Base Andrews, the military base
just outside of Washington. The 747 Trump used to travel to Florida
earlier in the week remained guarded on the tarmac of Palm Beach
International airport throughout the overseas outing.
The
military plane had just four blue leather chairs and a portable toilet
on board. Only a handful of aides and one member of the traveling press
pool joined Trump for that flight. After landing at Joint Base Andrews
at about 9:30 p.m., Trump boarded the second Air Force One 747 -- which
was stowed away inside a hangar, out of sight -- where the remainder of
the traveling press pool was already on board.
White
House officials and reporters alike were stripped of their cell phones
and other electronic devices before takeoff. With windows drawn and the
plane's interior lights shut off, Air Force One left at 10:08 p.m.
Reporters on board did not find out where they were heading until about
two hours before touching down in Afghanistan.
"It's
a dangerous area and he wants to support the troops," White House press
secretary Stephanie Grisham explained aboard Air Force One as she
briefed reporters on the President's destination. "He and Mrs. Trump
recognize that there's a lot of people far away from their families
during the holidays and we thought it'd be a nice surprise."
Trump's
plane landed at Bagram Air Base at 8:33 p.m. local time in pitch
darkness. Window curtains were drawn once again and the plane's lights
were shut off to conceal Trump's arrival.
Reporters were not allowed to report on Trump's visit until minutes before boarding Air Force One again to return to the US.
Planning
for the trip began weeks ahead of time, but only a very tight circle of
White House officials were aware. And the White House went to new
lengths to avoid arousing suspicion.
On
Thursday morning, the @realDonaldTrump account posted an unremarkable
tweet wishing Americans a happy Thanksgiving. That tweet and several
other retweets late Wednesday and early Thursday had in fact been
scheduled ahead of time to avoid arousing suspicions around a President
who rarely goes a dozen hours without taking to social media.
The
trip was Trump's first to Afghanistan and only his second to a war
zone, following the similarly secretive trip to Iraq for Christmas last
year. That time, Trump's cover was essentially blown before Trump landed
in Iraq, with plane spotters in the United Kingdom posted pictures of the easily-recognizable blue and white Air Force One jet traveling across clear skies.
Joining
Trump this time were just a handful of aides: acting White House chief
of staff Mick Mulvaney, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, deputy
White House press secretary Judd Deere and Grisham. Sen. John Barrasso,
a Wyoming Republican, also joined Trump for the trip.
As
Trump stepped off the plane at the US's biggest air base in
Afghanistan, he was greeted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Gen. Mark Milley. Two surveillance blimps could be seen in the
night sky overhead.
Trump arrived
in time to serve Thanksgiving dinner to about two dozen troops before
sitting down to eat with Barrasso and a commander based at Bagram.
Playing behind them while they ate: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade,
beamed live from back in New York.
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