Final Word from Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Which was more surprising, that Donald Trump used a catering truck to switch planes in Ankara to avoid an Iranian threat, or that the subterfuge was leaked to the press? Perhaps someone in his inner circle got angry that Trump was even willing to risk the lives of his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. A former spokesman for Bill Clinton told the New York Times that not a second thought was given this time to anybody but the president and the few people with him. Trump's abundance of caution - some would say cowardice - contrasts with the abundance of carelessness when Petr Fiala, Mateusz Morawiecki and others voluntarily went into a combat zone to visit Kyiv on March 15, 2022. They were the first high-level politicians to visit after the invasion, and no one could know how the Russians might react. If Fiala was willing to risk his own life, you'd think someone would want to provide more evidence of his bravery. Yet it's been nearly 4.5 years, and no pictures have been leaked of how Fiala's motorcade dodged Russian shells. All we still have are boring inside shots that could have been taken anywhere. [ Poland Turkey Nato summit trip decoy ]