Tyler Pager, Julian E. Barnes and Maggie Haberman
Washington: President Donald Trump abruptly switched aircraft when leaving Turkey this month after what officials judged to be a credible threat that Iranian proxy forces were targeting him and Air Force One, according to multiple people briefed on the matter.
The threat emerged while Trump was attending the NATO summit. He had flown into Ankara, Turkey, on the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which lacks the same advanced defensive capabilities of the old Air Force One, as The New York Times previously reported.
After the US government picked up on the threat, the Secret Service urged Trump to change planes. He later said he would leave in the latter aircraft.
The nature of the threat, not previously reported, sheds light on why the White House moved swiftly to switch planes. It also underscores concerns about the security of the donated jet, which Trump pressed to be ready as soon as possible for his use.
US officials had information that the proxy forces were targeting Trump and whatever aircraft he was travelling in, rather than having specific focus on the new plane. People briefed on the matter discussed the information with the NYT on condition of anonymity.
The White House did not comment. In response to questions from the NYT, a senior administration official also speaking on condition of anonymity referred to Trump’s public remarks about Iran’s efforts to kill him, and expressed confidence in the steps taken to protect the president and the travelling delegation.
The details of the threat were not disseminated widely even within the administration; some officials were told only that the switch in planes was a precautionary measure because of general concerns about Iran. Key members of Congress have not been briefed on the specific threat.
Trump initially said the switch in planes was to give US service members in Britain a chance to tour the new aircraft, and he denied the decision was security related. The NYT reported that the Secret Service had urged him to switch planes.
After the NYT reported this month that federal officials had significant concerns about the security capabilities of the jet, the government launched a leak investigation seeking grand jury testimony from several of the newspaper’s journalists, their phone records and those of their relatives. (The Justice Department withdrew the subpoenas Thursday.)
The president appeared to acknowledge last weekend that the plane was lacking some of the features of the older Boeings used as Air Force One, telling a reporter who noted that the Qatari plane lacks antimissile defences that it would soon be “maxed out”.
The roughly 14-year-old plane went through a costly yet relatively rushed retrofit to serve as Air Force One.
At the time of the swap, there were reports that Israel had shared intelligence with the United States about Iranian efforts to kill Trump. Some US officials viewed Israel’s intelligence with scepticism, believing it was an effort to provoke Trump to intensify attacks against Iran.
The threat to Air Force One in Turkey that prompted the change in planes was separate from the one attributed to Israeli intelligence, according to some briefed on the matter.
The United States had resumed strikes against Iran while Trump was in Ankara, roughly 1600km away from Tehran. At the summit, when asked about why he was swapping the Qatari-donated jet for the older one, he spoke openly about Iranian efforts to try to kill him.
“They want to take out the US leader – me,” he said. “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
Forces with ties to Iran have long wanted to assassinate Trump, dating back to his first term when US forces killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general.
Trump for years has complained about the state of the two planes that have served as Air Force One since 1990, saying they were not impressive enough to bring on foreign trips.
Military officials separately expressed concerns that the current Air Force One jets had been used for far longer than had been intended.
Last year, Qatar said it was donating a Boeing 747-8 for Trump’s use, and Trump has said he plans to take it with him for his presidential library when he leaves office.
Officials have described the new plane as a “bridge” until the long-delayed Boeing jets commissioned by the Air Force are delivered.
Since Trump returned to the United States from Turkey, White House officials have said the new plane will be taken out of service for about a month for additional upgrades.
“The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the president’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements [in the northern autumn] which will take approximately one month to complete,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“During that time, the president will fly on the old Air Force One.”
It is unclear what upgrades can be completed in such a short timeframe.
I think the environment has become very volatile and that’s just across the board.
Sean Curran, director of the Secret Service
At a briefing on Wednesday before the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner – interrupted in April when a gunman rushed past a security checkpoint – Secret Service officials said the threat level for those under the agency’s protection was the highest yet.
“The numbers at this agency, and certainty I’ve never seen in my 24-year career, they’re off the charts,” Sean Curran, director of the Secret Service, told reporters.
“I think the environment has become very volatile and that’s just across the board … The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it.”
Curran was the head of Trump’s Secret Service protective detail between presidential terms. He was among the agents with Trump when, as a candidate, he was shot in an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
