US President Donald Trump was secretly moved out of Turkey aboard a smaller military aircraft after American officials received intelligence about a possible Iranian assassination threat during the Nato summit in Ankara.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
“The threat was serious enough that extreme measures needed to be taken that day,” a US official told CNN, describing the decision by the Secret Service to take extraordinary precautions despite uncertainty over the intelligence.
The warning reportedly indicated that Iranian actors knew the luxury hotel where Trump was staying, had information about his movements in Ankara and remained intent on killing him. US officials also received intelligence about a possible attack on Air Force One using a shoulder fired missile launched from the ground near Ankara airport.
The intelligence had been shared by Israel with the CIA. However, the warning was not universally accepted within the US administration. Some CIA officials questioned its credibility and whether Iran had the capability to carry out such an attack, CNN reported.
US intelligence assessments before Trump's Turkey trip had not indicated a new, specific Iranian plot to assassinate the president. Instead, officials had been monitoring continuing threats and chatter from Iranian actors calling for Trump's death.
The missile warning nevertheless triggered a rapidly evolving security assessment on July 8, with senior US officials working alongside the Secret Service to determine how Trump could safely leave Turkey.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was among the senior officials involved in the discussions at the heavily fortified Bestepe Presidential Complex. Some officials initially considered taking Trump out of Turkey earlier in the day, but that option was rejected and the president continued his scheduled meetings.
Trump later held his Nato summit press conference, where he acknowledged the danger surrounding him and said he was on “every single one” of Iran's lists.
Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard the Qatar donated Boeing 747 that he had promoted as the future Air Force One. He had previously told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the older presidential aircraft was now only the “back-up”.
Trump later posted that the Qatar donated aircraft would fly to a British airbase so troops could tour it, while he would take the older Air Force One back to the United States. In reality, Trump would take neither aircraft.
The plan required him to board the older Air Force One before secretly moving through another exit into a white catering truck parked alongside the aircraft. The truck had been emptied and cleaned earlier in the day after US officials arranged to use it.
Trump, along with executive assistant Natalie Harp, Oval Office operations director Walt Nauta, White House personnel chief Dan Scavino and Secret Service agents, were placed inside the truck.
The vehicle took 162 seconds to cross the airport tarmac before reaching a smaller C-32A aircraft. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth also joined Trump aboard the military aircraft for the flight to RAF Mildenhall in Britain.
Meanwhile, several senior officials remained aboard the larger Air Force One, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Some White House staff and journalists were reportedly unaware that Trump was no longer aboard the aircraft and were instructed to keep the window shades closed.
The operation effectively turned Air Force One into a decoy while Trump travelled aboard the C-32A.
Fighter jets were reportedly prepared to escort both aircraft out of Turkey, suggesting that US officials remained concerned about the possibility of an attack even after Trump had been moved to the smaller aircraft.
CNN reported that no militants were arrested and no evidence of a missile plot was recovered after Trump left Turkey. The precise source of the intelligence about the shoulder fired missile also remains unclear.
The episode highlights the difficult calculations involved in protecting a US president. Even though some officials doubted the intelligence and questioned whether Iran could execute such an attack, the potential consequences of being wrong were considered serious enough to justify an elaborate deception involving a catering truck, a secret aircraft and a decoy Air Force One.
