Iran knew where Trump was staying in Turkey, including the floor: Report

Iranian operatives knew where President Donald Trump was staying in Ankara during the Nato summit last month, including the floor of the building, according to US intelligence cited by The New York Times. The intelligence was part of a threat assessment that prompted an extraordinary operation to secretly move Trump onto a different aircraft before he left Turkey.

Two US officials familiar with the intelligence told The New York Times that multiple streams of information pointed to a specific threat against Trump. Intelligence indicated that a surface-to-air missile could be used against whichever aircraft was carrying the president.

Someone in the vicinity of the Nato summit was also spotted with a shoulder-fired missile, the officials said.

The intelligence was considered sufficiently credible for the Secret Service and senior administration officials to devise a decoy operation to get Trump out of Turkey.

The threat emerged as Trump was preparing to leave Ankara on July 8, the final day of the Nato summit.

Trump had publicly announced that he would leave Turkey aboard an older Air Force One aircraft “for old time's sake”. He was seen boarding the plane in front of cameras. But he was then secretly moved off the aircraft in an airport catering container and taken to a smaller military aircraft, according to the report.

The older Air Force One took off with White House officials, security personnel and journalists aboard, effectively serving as a decoy.

Trump later stopped in Britain, where he secretly reboarded the aircraft before eventually returning to the Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8.

The elaborate operation remained secret for weeks.

Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he had been moved to another aircraft after the Secret Service and military told him they wanted him on a different plane. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane,” Trump told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats,” he said.

Trump also downplayed the danger, saying he believed the plane he actually flew on may have been at greater risk.

WHY THE DECOY OPERATION WAS UNUSUAL

US presidents have previously used secret travel arrangements and decoy aircraft during visits to dangerous locations.

Former President Joe Biden travelled secretly to Kyiv in 2023, flying to Poland before taking a covert overnight train into Ukraine. Two journalists accompanied him and documented the visit once it was underway.

Trump himself made a secret Thanksgiving trip to Afghanistan in 2019. Officials used a decoy plane and a separate press pool to maintain the impression that he was spending the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Former Presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also undertook covert trips or used deceptive travel arrangements for security reasons.

What was unusual in Trump's case was that the deception continued after he had left the immediate danger zone. The press pool travelling with him was not told that he was no longer aboard the aircraft they believed was carrying the president.

Garrett M Graff, author of “Raven Rock”, told the AP that presidents had flown on unmarked or decoy aircraft before, but described the prolonged secrecy surrounding Trump's whereabouts as unprecedented.

IRAN HAS TARGETED TRUMP BEFORE

Trump has previously been the subject of Iranian threats and plots.

He was grazed by a would-be assassin's bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. He was also targeted by an armed man at his Florida golf course later that year. Those two assassination attempts were unrelated to the Iranian threats.

Separately, a man was convicted in connection with a murder-for-hire plot against Trump that was uncovered by the Biden administration. US authorities said the plot was linked to Iranian operatives using a proxy.

The latest intelligence, according to US officials cited by The New York Times, involved a specific threat while Trump was in Ankara.

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