Donald Trump switched aircraft before departing Turkey earlier this month after US officials determined there was a credible threat from Iranian proxy forces targeting him and Air Force One, according to a new report from the New York Times.
The threat surfaced while the US president was attending the Nato summit. He had arrived in Ankara onboard the new Qatari-donated Boeing ۷۴۷-۸, an aircraft that Trump acknowledged does not have the same advanced defensive systems as the older Air Force One.
According to the anonymous sources who spoke to the Times, after US officials detected the threat, the Secret Service recommended that Trump change aircraft before leaving the country. He later announced he would depart on the older Air Force One instead.
The newly reported details about the threat help explain why the White House quickly decided to swap aircraft. They also highlight ongoing security concerns surrounding the donated jet, which Trump had pushed to have ready for use as soon as possible.
According to the report, US officials did not believe the Iranian proxy forces were specifically targeting the new Boeing ۷۴۷-۸. Instead, the intelligence indicated the threat was directed at Trump himself and whichever aircraft he was traveling on.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
Trump’s justice department had previously subpoenaed reporters at the New York Times over their coverage of the security risks involving the president’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One replacement, but the justice department has dropped, for now, those efforts.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Trump flew part of the trip home from the Nato summit in Turkey aboard the older Air Force One after arriving on the new Qatari-gifted aircraft. At the time, Trump did not provide a detailed explanation for the switch, saying he would use the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake”. He also said both planes would make a previously unscheduled stop at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by US troops, before returning to the US.
Although Trump did not explain the reason for changing planes at the time, he has previously spoken about threats from Iran against his life, even going so far as to say he left standing orders for the US military to destroy Iran “at levels they’ve never seen before” if Tehran carries out its longstanding threats to kill him.
The revelations also come as Trump reportedly mulls escalating attacks on Iran in the ongoing conflict after a ceasefire deal has recently broken down. Trump has vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen, though he once again left open the door to a diplomatic deal with Iran.
“We are talking to them. I think they’re being serious. I think … they are being by far the most serious that we’ve seen them, but that doesn’t mean we get there,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.
He added: “We’re locked and loaded. We’re ready to go.”
