In the long tradition of power protecting itself through misdirection, Donald Trump was quietly spirited away from an Ankara tarmac last month inside an airport catering cart, boarding a covert military aircraft while the world watched an empty Air Force One. The elaborate deception, prompted by what officials describe as a credible Iranian assassination threat, echoes a 2000 Clinton operation in Pakistan — a reminder that the visible machinery of the presidency is often a stage set, and the real story moves in the shadows. The incident asks an enduring question: how much truth does a democrac