Details of US President's secret trip to Afghanistan
(Baonghean) - On the eve of Thanksgiving - a major holiday in the US, President Donald Trump quietly left his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and boarded a basic military plane with a few senior aides. Sixteen hours later, the White House chief landed in Afghanistan for the first time, on his second visit as President to a war zone, after his Christmas Eve trip to Iraq last year.
Journey in the night
The 16-hour journey, plus the three hours Mr. Trump spent at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, was conducted in secrecy under regulations related to the US Commander-in-Chief visiting a war zone.
At 2 p.m. on November 28, reporters and journalists accompanying the President were allowed to cover his trip, just minutes before Air Force One took off to bring Mr. Trump back to Florida.
CNN reported that Mr. Trump’s trip departed on the night of November 27. After quietly leaving Mar-a-Lago, the President boarded a military plane parked at a secret airport and took off at 7:20 p.m. to Joint Base Andrews, just outside Washington.
The Boeing 747 that Mr. Trump used to travel to Florida earlier this week remained under heavy security on the flight path of Palm Beach International Airport throughout the leader's foreign "excursion."
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| Air Force One carrying President Donald Trump is seen parked on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Photo AFP/Getty Images |
Meanwhile, the military plane used had only four blue leather seats and a portable toilet on board. Only a few aides and a member of the press corps that serves the president when traveling and traveling accompanied Mr. Trump on that flight.
After landing at Andrews around 9:30 p.m., Trump boarded his second Air Force One 747, which was tucked away in an out-of-sight hangar where the rest of the press corps was already waiting on board.
White House officials and journalists had their cell phones and other electronic devices confiscated before takeoff. Windows were closed, the cabin lights were turned off, and Air Force One lifted off at around 10:08 p.m.
The reporters on board had no idea where they were headed until two hours before landing in Afghanistan.
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| US President Donald Trump addresses troops during a surprise Thanksgiving visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on November 28. Photo AFP/Reuters/Getty Images |
“It’s a dangerous area and he wants to support the military,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham explained, as she briefed reporters on board Air Force One about President Trump’s destination. “He and Mrs. Trump realize that a lot of people are away from their families for the holidays and we thought this would be a nice surprise.”
Trump’s plane landed at Bagram Air Base at 8:33 p.m. local time in pitch darkness. Once again, the plane’s windows were rolled down and the cabin lights were turned off, to protect Trump’s visit. The press was not allowed to report on the visit until minutes before Air Force One departed for the United States.
Thanksgiving Surprise
Planning for the trip began weeks in advance, but few White House officials were informed about it. And the White House went to great lengths to keep it secret to avoid raising suspicion.
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| Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks as Mr Trump stands next to him listening. Photo: AFP |
On the morning of November 28, the US President's Twitter account @realDonaldTrump posted a status as usual, wishing all Americans a happy Thanksgiving.
That status line and several other status lines on the night of November 27 and early morning of November 28 were actually timed, to avoid causing suspicion surrounding a head of state who rarely stays absent from social media for many hours.
As mentioned, this trip is Mr. Trump's first time to Afghanistan and only the 73-year-old politician's second trip to a war zone, after a similar secret visit to Iraq during Christmas last year.
At that time, Trump's "cover" was basically "blown away" before he landed in Iraq, when some people in the UK posted photos of Air Force One with its prominent blue and white colors, easily recognizable when it was flying in a clear sky.
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| President Donald Trump takes a selfie with US soldiers. Photo: EpochTimes |
This time, accompanying Mr. Trump were a handful of aides: acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere and Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming.
As Mr. Trump stepped off the plane at the largest US air base in Afghanistan, he was greeted by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, with two surveillance balloons hovering above his head in the night sky.
Trump arrived just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with about two dozen troops, before sitting down to eat with Barrasso and a commanding officer at Bagram. As they ate, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was broadcast live from New York in the background.
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| Mr. Trump had Thanksgiving dinner with US troops in Afghanistan. Photo: AFP/Getty Images |
About 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, 18 years after the US invaded the country following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. During his trip, Trump said he planned to reduce that number to 8,600, and then added “we can go further than that,” without giving details.
President Trump also said that the US has resumed negotiations with the Taliban insurgents, and affirmed the need for a ceasefire there.
