▲ U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One after concluding the NATO summit.
U.S. intelligence agencies evaluated intelligence regarding an Israeli-warned assassination threat against U.S. President Donald Trump—which triggered a controversy over his covert transfer to a military aircraft—as having low credibility, The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 12th (local time).
Citing current and former U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, WP reported that Israel passed along information regarding an alleged Iranian assassination plot targeting President Trump, but the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conveyed the information to the Trump administration with an assessment expressing skepticism.
One official told WP that the intelligence "originated from Israel, not produced by the U.S., and was assessed to be of low reliability."
Previously, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing U.S. officials, that Israel had shared intelligence on an Iranian assassination plot involving the potential use of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles targeting Air Force One.
No missiles were actually fired at Air Force One.
On July 8, after finishing his schedule at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, President Trump departed Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Türkiye. He initially made it appear as though he was boarding Air Force One, but then secretly transferred to a C-32A military transport aircraft bound for the United Kingdom by using a catering truck linked to the opposite door of the aircraft.
White House reporters aboard Air Force One believed President Trump was traveling with them, meaning the plane ultimately served as a decoy to evade the alleged Iranian assassination threat.
According to WP, despite the CIA's skeptical assessment, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), tasked with protecting President Trump, strongly demanded that the president switch aircraft based on the Israeli intelligence.
Amid the growing controversy, President Trump responded to reporters' questions about the matter the previous day, saying, "They (the USSS and military officials) wanted me to take a different flight, a different plane. The safety is the same, but they wanted me to do it, so I did it. I do what they tell me to do."
Among the aides accompanying President Trump at the time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was briefed on the Israeli intelligence and the USSS's deception tactic, but remained aboard Air Force One instead of transferring to the military transport aircraft with President Trump, a former official said.
One official explained that while questions surrounded the Israeli intelligence, the USSS had no choice but to exercise extreme caution, noting, "The USSS has faced three close calls involving the president, so they are not taking any chances."
This referred to criticisms that holes had been punched in USSS security following a series of incidents targeting President Trump, ranging from an assassination attempt during the 2024 presidential campaign to a shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner venue last April.
Some analyses also suggest that Israel's provision of intelligence may not have been purely for information-sharing purposes, but rather a tactical move to influence President Trump's decision-making and U.S. policy in the Middle East.
A former official told WP that the report "fit a broader pattern of Israeli intelligence reporting that appeared designed to shape the president's decision-making."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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