Report: Iranian Operatives Allegedly Planned to Assassinate Trump in Turkey
After Israel passed along intelligence to the U.S. that Iranian operatives were planning to harm President Donald Trump, another Western intelligence agency reportedly said the attack was expected to take place in Turkey. That, according to the report, is why the American president switched presidential aircraft.
Trump (Credit: shutterstock)Israel's Channel 12 reported Sunday evening that it was a Western intelligence agency that intercepted the Iranian assessment regarding a plot to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to Turkey. Separately, according to a report in The New York Times, Trump departed last Wednesday from the NATO summit in Ankara aboard his older Air Force One aircraft rather than the new plane he received as a gift from Qatar.
According to sources familiar with the details, the decision was initially made following a special security recommendation from the Secret Service as a precautionary measure — not in response to a specific, concrete threat. Subsequent reports, however, indicated that the move was taken after intelligence was received pointing to an Iranian intention to assassinate the president.
The manner of Trump's departure from Ankara was also described as unusual. The president boarded the aircraft rapidly, before the journalists traveling with him had an opportunity to observe or photograph him ascending the stairs — a departure from standard protocol. Passengers were additionally instructed to lower their window shades prior to takeoff.
As previously reported, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee acknowledged two days ago that Israel had transmitted intelligence to the White House regarding an Iranian plot to harm Trump. The president himself addressed the reports, stating that he is well aware that hostile actors would seek to harm him — and that should such an attempt succeed, he has left standing instructions "to strike Iran with a thousand missiles."
