Iran Aware of Floor Number at Trump Hotel... Unprecedented 'Decoy Operation'

Specific intelligence was reportedly detected at the time of the NATO summit held in Türkiye last month indicating that Iran was preparing a surface-to-air missile attack targeting U.S. President Donald Trump.

Because of this, the U.S. government carried out an unusual "decoy operation," secretly evacuating President Trump aboard a different military aircraft.

U.S. intelligence agencies captured multiple pieces of threat intelligence targeting President Trump as the final day of the NATO summit began on the 8th of last month, the New York Times reported.

In particular, specific threats were identified that Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, could be attacked with surface-to-air missiles.

Intelligence was also obtained that the Iranian side knew not only the hotel where President Trump was staying in Ankara at the time, but even his exact floor.

Intelligence was even captured that a person carrying a shoulder-fired portable missile was spotted near the NATO summit venue.

U.S. authorities judged the credibility of this intelligence to be quite high, and a secret operation was immediately launched to safely extract President Trump from Türkiye.

President Trump posted on his social media that he would use an older version of Air Force One from Türkiye to the United Kingdom, and boarded the aircraft in front of waiting reporters.

However, the actual movement was different.

Shortly after, President Trump slipped out through an opposite exit, moved using the cargo bed of an airport catering truck, and then transferred to a U.S. Air Force C-32A VIP transport aircraft to depart Ankara Airport.

The older Air Force One headed separately to the United Kingdom as if carrying President Trump.

The operation continued even after arriving at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, where President Trump re-boarded the older Air Force One, which had arrived ahead of the military plane he was on.

He later met with reporters inside the cabin and acted as if he had traveled together to the United Kingdom on that aircraft from the beginning.

It was only a month later that this secret operation and the background of specific Iranian assassination threat intelligence belatedly became known.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Dain | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.