Trump’s Air Force One shell game: How years of decoy tactics led to a catering-truck switch

President Donald Trump’s cloak-and-dagger departure from Ankara, Turkey, last month — secretly slipping off the plane he was seen boarding — was an extraordinary security maneuver, but the playbook for disguising his movements aboard Air Force One dates back years.

Trump himself has long talked about the brilliance of the bait-and-switching during his first term.

Trump’s Dec. 26, 2018, surprise Christmas trip to U.S. troops in Iraq featured a darkened Air Force One, closed window shades and an unusual military call sign intended to obscure the presidential jet’s movement. That operation was ultimately pierced by a British plane spotter, however, prompting...