U.S. intelligence officials reportedly questioned the credibility of an Israeli warning about an Iranian assassination threat against President Donald Trump that prompted an extraordinary covert security operation during his visit to Ankara last month.
Current and former U.S. officials told The Washington Post that CIA analysts assessed the Israeli intelligence as having a low level of confidence and communicated their reservations to the White House.
The warning came during Trump’s July 8 visit to Ankara for a NATO summit and raised concerns about a potential Iranian attack targeting the president and his aircraft.
Trump initially boarded the original Air Force One in view of cameras but was subsequently moved in a highly unusual covert operation. He was reportedly transported across the airport concealed inside a catering container before boarding a military C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain under fighter escort.
Members of Trump’s staff, journalists and senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Communications Director Steven Cheung and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, remained aboard the original aircraft.
U.S. officials said the threat intelligence originated with Israel rather than American intelligence agencies. CIA analysts reportedly did not consider the information sufficiently convincing, although the Secret Service decided not to take any chances given previous threats and attempts against Trump.
“The Secret Service has lived through three near misses on the president, so they’re not taking any chances,” one U.S. official told The Washington Post.
Some U.S. intelligence officials also reportedly questioned whether Israel’s decision to share the warning may have been intended, at least in part, to influence Trump’s decision-making and U.S. policy in the region amid Israeli concerns over warming relations between Washington and Ankara.
Trump later said the decision to implement the extraordinary security measures was made entirely by the Secret Service.
The New York Times previously reported that the alleged Iranian threat included intelligence indicating that Tehran knew Trump’s precise location in Ankara and that a suspicious individual carrying a shoulder-fired missile had been spotted nearby.
Despite the CIA’s reported doubts about the intelligence, security officials ultimately chose to treat the potential threat seriously and secretly move the president to an alternate aircraft.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
