According to multiple U.S. sources, President Trump was forced to change aircraft last month due to a security threat alert, but CIA officials reportedly believe the intelligence, which originated from Israel, has low credibility.
Early in July, while attending the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump did not board Air Force One for his departure. Instead, he secretly switched to a military aircraft. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Israeli intelligence had informed U.S. officials that Iran might use shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to target Trump’s plane.
On July 8, in Ankara, Turkey, U.S. President Trump (center), NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (left), and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the NATO summit. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya)
The Washington Post, citing several informed U.S. sources, reported on the 12th that the CIA received this intelligence from Israel but assessed its credibility as “low.” U.S. intelligence officials believe that Israel’s alert to the U.S. was more about influencing Trump’s decisions and his Middle East policy. One official noted that Israel views Iran as its current biggest threat and Turkey as a “mid- to long-term threat,” and is uneasy about the warming of U.S.-Turkey relations.
Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen also questioned the credibility of the Israeli intelligence: “I have no doubt that Iranians would like to see the President disappear, but this whole thing seems a bit far-fetched.”
On the 11th, Trump confirmed to the media that the U.S. Secret Service and the military, considering the potential threat, recommended he switch aircraft. A U.S. official stated that despite the CIA’s doubts about the credibility of the Israeli intelligence, the Secret Service still devised a plan for Trump to quietly switch to another plane. This was due to the fact that Trump had previously survived three assassination attempts, and the Secret Service was unwilling to take any risks. (Reported by Hui Xiaoshuang)