US Officials Doubted Credibility of Iran Threat to Trump's Air Force One, Sources Say

U.S. intelligence agencies expressed doubts about the credibility of an alleged Iranian plot to target Air Force One, even as the Secret Service took extraordinary measures to move President Trump to a different aircraft before his departure from Turkey, sources told ABC News. The intelligence, which originated with Israel and was shared with the United States, suggested a risk of a shoulder-fired missile attack.

Israeli officials shared the information in real time as Trump prepared to leave Ankara, Turkey, after a NATO summit. However, they had not fully vetted the intelligence or independently determined its credibility before passing it on, according to the sources. U.S. intelligence agencies subsequently assessed that the information did not indicate a serious or immediate threat.

Despite this assessment, the Secret Service opted to enhance security for the president's departure, citing the need to mitigate any potential risk. This led to Trump being moved to another military aircraft. Trump himself stated that he followed the direction of the Secret Service and military personnel regarding the flight change.

"It's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do," Trump told reporters. "So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane. Equal safety. But they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say."

Trump has been a prominent target for Iran and its proxies since the U.S. ordered the airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in early 2020. Deputy Director of the U.S. Secret Service Matt Quinn has previously stated that Iran has publicly expressed a desire to harm the president.

Following Trump's departure, U.S. and Turkish authorities continued to investigate the potential missile threat but did not uncover evidence of an operational plot, according to one official. The CIA has declined to comment on the matter, and The Washington Post had previously reported that the CIA had "low confidence" in the Iranian assassination threat shared by Israel.