CIA Questions Credibility of Israeli Warning on Iranian Assassination Plot Against Trump

American intelligence officials expressed doubts about the reliability of an Israeli intelligence warning regarding an alleged Iranian assassination threat against then-President Donald Trump. According to current and former officials who spoke to The Washington Post, the warning led to a covert operation on July 8 during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump was secretly transferred from the original Air Force One to a military C-32A aircraft. The move was prompted by concerns over the security of the new Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar, amid reports of a suspected Iranian missile threat near the airport.

The threat information originated from Israeli intelligence rather than American sources, and CIA analysts found the intelligence unconvincing, sharing their reservations with the White House. Some U.S. intelligence personnel believed the Israeli warning was intended to influence Trump’s decisions and U.S. policy in the region, particularly due to Israeli concerns about warming U.S.-Turkey relations. Despite these doubts, the Secret Service opted to err on the side of caution given past assassination attempts on Trump’s life. A senior U.S. official told The Washington Post that the Secret Service had experienced three close calls and therefore took no risks.

Trump later stated that the decision to relocate him was made exclusively by the Secret Service. The unusual security operation involved Trump initially boarding the original Air Force One publicly, then being discreetly moved inside a catering truck to the military plane, which flew him to the UK without broadcasting flight data. Meanwhile, his staff and senior officials remained on the original plane, which was reportedly the target of the Iranian threat. This covert evacuation was first reported by The New York Times and was designed to protect Trump from a precise Iranian threat that included knowledge of his exact location and a shoulder-fired missile detected nearby.