After US President Donald Trump acknowledged he was secretly moved to a smaller military jet in Turkey in July, it has emerged that the US spy agency had "low confidence" in Israeli intel about potential attack on Air Force One.
Intel from Mossad reportedly hinted that Tehran was plotting to use shoulder-to-air missiles to target Trump's plane Air Force One after it takes off from Ankara. While this has led to speculations about Israel's allegedly trying to foil the ongoing US-Iran talks, there is no concrete information regarding such rumours.
The US president came to Turkey for the NATO summit in the new Air Force One, a Qatari-gifted red, white and navy blue jet. However, while leaving, he boarded the older baby blue Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara. But later he was secretly shuttled by an airport catering truck to an Air Force C-32A, according to The Washington Post.
The Post, which cited multiple US officials, said the CIA analysts did not find the Israeli intel compelling enough. One of them dismissed the warning as "Israeli-derived, not US-generated, and viewed as low confidence" while another said "the Secret Service has had three near misses with this president, so they’re not taking any chances."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly flew in the same plane despite the threat, which indicates that the CIA did not take the Israeli intel seriously. Some White House staff members and even journalists were also aboard the threatened plane. However, the Secret Service decided to take no chances with the president's safety as he had already faced three assassination bids.
"The United States Secret Service’s core mission is protecting the president, which they achieved," an official told the Post, requesting anonymity.
Acknowledging the switch on August 11, Trump told reporters, "It's only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do, 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."
