Trump biographer offers 'easy answer' to who leaked Air Force One ruse

The Trump administration has been scrambling to identify the leakers behind recent stories about his Air Force One ruse, but according to his longtime biographer, there is an "easy answer" as to who leaked the most recent "catering truck" story.

This week, the Washington Post reported about a new wrinkle in President Donald Trump's Air Force One switch-up. Prior reports had revealed that Trump flew out of Turkey last month on an older model Air Force One, due to the new one lacking security features needed in the face of alleged threats from Iran. According to the Post story, the Secret Service had gone a step further, sneaking Trump out of Air Force One on a catering truck and flying him to the U.K. on a military craft, prompting concerns about the lack of care shown for the safety of reporters left to fly out on the legacy craft.

Michael Wolff is a longtime journalist and author, best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books about his first term based on purported insider sources. In the latest episode of his Daily Beast podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," Wolff touched on the catering truck situation, and suggested that the answer to the question of who leaked to the Post was simple: Trump himself.

"No one knows about it, and no one knows about most of these things that the Secret Service does for a very good reason,” Wolff explained. “These are all security precautions... If people know about them, then they’re no longer part of the security protocol and no longer a safe part. So people don’t know about this. The Secret Service certainly would not leak this. So who leaked it? This is an easy answer.”

"Donald Trump leaked it," co-host Joanna Coles suggested, which Wolff confirmed.

“He has a method here. And the method is, more attention on me,” Wolff added. “And also, there’s a theme here. The assassination theme has worked very well for Donald Trump. And I think that he wants people to know he’s the target. ‘I’m the main target. I’m the guy.’”

Wolff and Coles also wondered how the assembled reporters on the "decoy" Air Force One did not notice anything odd about the flight, given Trump's proclivity for talking to them, and insulting them for attention.

"They literally were on the plane," Coles said. "And they must have thought, ‘Why isn’t the president coming back to talk to us?’ Because he always goes back to talk to them because he loves it. He wants them. He loves to insult them. He knows that will be the next story."