Malia Obama was rushed out of France in a covert operation just hours after the devastating 2016 Nice terror attack, details of which have only now come to light.
The daughter of then-President Barack was rushed to safety by a joint team of US Secret Service personnel and French police at around 2am on July 14, 2016.
Malia, now 28, had been holidaying in Antibes to celebrate her 18th birthday when tragedy struck nearby.
A Tunisian Islamist ploughed a 19-tonne lorry into crowds gathered for Bastille Day fireworks celebrations in Nice, killing 86 people.
Roughly three hours after the atrocity, authorities arrested three brothers who had been seen behaving suspiciously outside the Royal Antibes hotel.
This was where Malia had been staying alongside a group of friends.
The men, all in their twenties, were suspected of potential involvement in the terrorist incident.
Although Malia's departure had been scheduled for the following morning, security officials opted to remove her from French soil immediately.
Malia Obama had been holidaying in Antibes to celebrate her 18th birthday when tragedy struck nearby
|GETTY
French police officer Laurent Alcaraz, who coordinated the evacuation, has now lifted the lid on that dramatic night.
"About 10 Americans were waiting for me when I arrived in front of the hotel," he told the Nice-Matin newspaper.
"They said: 'We're leaving in 30 minutes'."
A motorcade made up of three police vehicles and Secret Service cars rushed Malia and her friends to the airport.
FRANCE - READ THE LATEST:
A Tunisian extremist ploughed a 19-tonne lorry into crowds gathered for Bastille Day fireworks celebrations in Nice, killing 86
|GETTY
An aircraft stood ready to return them to America.
"The Americans let me take charge of the route," Mr Alcaraz added.
"I handled it as I saw fit and we got there safe and sound. It was the first time I had driven right onto the tarmac."
The entire operation was classified until French media outlets reported on it following the attack's 10th anniversary.
The three Iraqi nationals, who had recently acquired Danish passports, were all interrogated by France's Directorate General for Internal Security.
Although Malia's departure had been scheduled for the morning, security officials opted to remove her from French soil immediately
|GETTY
They had arrived in Nice driving a rental vehicle with Swedish registration.
Following 48 hours in custody, all three were freed without charges after investigators determined they had no connection to the attack.
The lorry had careered along Nice's Promenade des Anglais at around 40mph, killing 86 and wounding hundreds.
Weapons including hand grenades were subsequently found inside the vehicle.
The attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a drug-using jihadist, shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the rampage before being shot dead by police.