Iran knew Trump's Turkey location before secret plane swap, reveals US intel

US intelligence found Iranian operatives had tracked Trump in Ankara, prompting a covert aircraft switch. The deception continued even after he left the immediate danger zone.

In Short

• US intel flagged specific Iranian threat as Trump prepared to leave Ankara
• Officials feared surface-to-air missile could target presidential aircraft
• Man near Trueky summit was reportedly seen carrying shoulder-fired missile

Iranian operatives knew where US President Donald Trump was staying in Ankara during last month’s Natio summit, including the floor of the building, according to US intelligence. The security threat prompted the Secret Service and senior administration officials to mount an extraordinary covert operation to move Trump onto a different aircraft before he left Turkey.

Two US officials familiar with the intelligence told The New York Times that the intelligence suggested that a surface-to-air missile could be used to target whichever aircraft was carrying the President. The officials said a person in the vicinity of the Nato summit was also spotted with a shoulder-fired missile, further raising concerns about a potential attack.

The intelligence was deemed credible enough for the Secret Service and senior administration officials to devise a decoy operation to get Trump out of Turkey safely, on July 8, the final day of the NATO summit, amid the war with Iran.

TRUMP PUBLICLY BOARDED AIR FORCE ONE, BUT WAS SECRETLY MOVED

Trump had announced that he would leave Turkey aboard an older Air Force One aircraft, describing the decision as being "for old time's sake". He was subsequently seen boarding the aircraft in Ankara in full view of cameras, reinforcing the impression that it would carry him out of Turkey.

But Trump was not ultimately aboard the aircraft when it departed.

According to reports, after publicly boarding the older Air Force One, Trump was secretly moved away from the aircraft using an airport catering container and transferred to a smaller military aircraft. The operation was designed to make it difficult for anyone monitoring the airport to determine which aircraft was carrying the president.

The older Air Force One then departed with White House officials, security personnel and journalists aboard, effectively turning it into a decoy.

The deception was particularly elaborate because the journalists travelling with the president were not informed that Trump was no longer aboard the aircraft they believed was carrying him.

The Boeing C-32A, a smaller military aircraft, carrying Trump flew to Britain. He later reboarded the aircraft that had been used as the public-facing flight before eventually continuing his journey aboard the Boeing 747-8 donated to the US by Qatar.

TRUMP CONFIRMS SECRET AIRCRAFT SWITCH

Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the Secret Service and military had instructed him to change aircraft, although he offered few details about the nature of the threat.

"They wanted me to go on a different flight, different plane," Trump said, according to The Associated Press.

Asked whether there had been a threat, Trump acknowledged that there apparently was one but said he did not seek extensive details.

"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 appeared to downplay the danger, suggesting that the aircraft he actually flew on might have been more vulnerable than the plane used as a decoy.

His comments came after reports revealed that the aircraft switch was not simply a matter of convenience or preference, as had initially been suggested, but part of a security operation triggered by intelligence concerning Iran.

AN UNUSUALLY ELABORATE DECEPTION

Presidents have previously used secret travel arrangements, unmarked aircraft and decoys to protect their movements.

Former President Joe Biden's 2023 trip to Kyiv, for example, was conducted under extraordinary secrecy. Biden travelled to Poland before boarding a covert overnight train into Ukraine, with only a small number of journalists accompanying him.

Trump himself made a secret trip to Afghanistan in 2019 during his first presidency. A decoy aircraft and separate press arrangements helped preserve the appearance that he was spending Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Former presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have also undertaken covert trips or used deceptive travel arrangements when security circumstances required them.

What made Trump's Ankara operation particularly unusual, however, was the extent and duration of the deception.

Rather than simply concealing the president's itinerary in advance, officials maintained the appearance that Trump was aboard one aircraft even after he had secretly transferred to another. The journalists travelling with him were apparently unaware that the aircraft had become a decoy.

The Washington Post previously reported that the White House publicly maintained that Trump was aboard Air Force One when he left the Nato summit, while the actual operation involved a secret transfer to another aircraft.

Security and intelligence experts have described the operation as an unusually extensive example of presidential travel deception.

IRAN'S PREVIOUS THREATS AGAINST TRUMP

The reported Ankara threat comes against the backdrop of years of Iranian threats against Trump.

Iranian officials and groups aligned with Tehran have repeatedly threatened retaliation against Trump and other US officials following the January 2020 US drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

Trump has also faced several assassination threats and attempts unrelated to Iran.

In 2024, he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman fired at him and a bullet grazed his ear. Later that year, an armed suspect was arrested after being spotted near Trump's golf course in Florida.

US authorities have separately prosecuted an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Trump that investigators linked to Iranian operatives and a proxy network.

The latest intelligence, however, was more specific: according to US officials cited in the new reporting, it concerned a possible attack while Trump was physically present in Ankara.

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