"Iranian Assassination Threats Real"... Why Trump Switched Air Force One

"Intelligence Warns President and Aircraft Are Targets"

Trump Switches Presidential Planes After NATO Summit on Security Team's Advice

Reports have emerged indicating that the background behind U.S. President Donald Trump switching Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, on his way home after recently concluding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, was the existence of credible assassination threats from Iran.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on July 24 (local time), President Trump traveled to Türkiye for the NATO summit, held from July 7 to 8, using the new Air Force One provided by Qatar.

After the summit, on his return trip, President Trump used the old Air Force One to travel to the RAF Mildenhall air base in the United Kingdom, then switched to the new presidential aircraft there to fly back to the United States. At the time, he explained that he had sent the new aircraft to the UK base in advance in order to unveil it to U.S. military personnel stationed there.

However, at a subsequent press conference, he mentioned that he was Iran’s "number one assassination target," leading to speculation that the change of aircraft was for security reasons.

U.S. President Donald Trump is giving a speech in front of the new Air Force One provided by Qatar. Photo by Yonhap News

At that time, the United States had just resumed airstrikes against Iran, and calls for retaliation among hardliners in Iran were intensifying following the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. In addition, there were reports that Israel had provided the U.S. with information about a possible assassination attempt on President Trump.

The NYT reported that the U.S. administration had obtained intelligence suggesting that Iranian proxy forces might target President Trump and the aircraft he was on. This information indicated not just a specific model of aircraft, but that both the president and the presidential jet itself could be direct targets. As a result, the U.S. Secret Service considered it to be a credible threat and recommended changing the travel arrangements.

The NYT added that this threat was separate from the earlier Iranian assassination intelligence reportedly shared by Israel with the United States. U.S. intelligence agencies had taken additional security measures based on information they had gathered independently.

According to reports, only a very small number of government officials were privy to the specific details of the threat, even within the administration. Some officials were only informed that the change was a precautionary measure in response to threats from Iran, and even congressional leaders were not briefed on the details.

According to the NYT, "Since President Trump authorized the operation to eliminate Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, during his first term in 2020, he has long been considered a major assassination target for Iran and pro-Iranian groups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.