Man Who Carried Clinton’s Nuclear Football Says the Trump Air Force One Leak Was An Inside Job

The operation itself was brilliant — Patterson said so explicitly, and he wishes he could have been part of it. Trump was seen publicly boarding Air Force One in Turkey while Iranian assassination threats were active. He was secretly transferred to a different military aircraft via a catering truck — a sleight of hand that Patterson confirmed is a standard, long-established presidential security tactic used by multiple administrations including Clinton’s.

“We use decoys all the time,” Patterson said. “We use decoys in motorcade routes. You’ll sometimes see the two beasts switch out under bridges and overpasses. We do the same thing with airplanes, especially on international trips.”

And because only a very small number of people are brought into any specific operation by design, the leak necessarily came from inside that tight circle. That’s what scares Patterson — not the tactic, but the disclosure. Every future president is now less safe because this operation’s mechanics are public knowledge.