A threat that Air Force One could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile prompted the Secret Service to secretly move President Donald Trump onto a smaller government jet during a trip to Turkiye last month, a person briefed on the matter said, according to Reuters.
The threat emerged on the final day of Trump’s visit to Ankara for the Nato summit amid heightened tensions with Iran, the source said. The Secret Service deemed the threat to be credible and imminent, prompting an extraordinary operation to conceal the US president’s movements.
The source declined to say where the intelligence came from but said officials had little time to prepare and devised the plans at the last minute.
A second source briefed on the matter said there was not a clear plan by those hostile to Trump for executing the threat, but only an intent, which is why the planes were allowed to fly.