How Trump’s Afghanistan visit was kept under wraps
BAGRAMAIRFIELD,AFGHANISTAN: Notorious for leaks and chastened by previous security lapses, the White House went to unusual lengths to keep US President Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving trip to Afghanistan under wraps, devising a cover story for his movements that included posting scripted tweets while he was in the air, administration officials said.
On Thursday, Trump dropped in unannounced on troops at Afghanistan’s Bagram military air base in his first trip to the country and only his second to a war zone during his presidency. He served soldiers a turkey dinner and posed for selfies.
The most surprising aspect of the 33-hour round trip, which White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said had been weeks in the making, was the administration’s success in keeping it secret until shortly before he left Afghanistan.
Often wrong-footed by leaks and Trump’s freewheeling use of Twitter, the White House informed only a tight circle of officials about the trip.
When journalists waited for him to emerge for a Thursday afternoon conference call with troops, as per his schedule, they learnt that overnight he had flown 13,400km to Afghanistan to visit them in person.
Last Christmas, en route to a troop visit in Iraq, Air Force One was identified above England by a plane spotter who tweeted a photo of its distinctive turquoise livery. Many speculated then that Trump was on his way to a war zone, pointing to his unusually quiet Twitter account, which had sent dozens of tweets the day before.