‘Shoulder-fired missile’ threat: Why Trump was made to secretly switch planes after Nato summit in Turkey
A threat that Air Force One could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile prompted the Secret Service to secretly move President Trump onto a smaller government jet. Here's what we know so far.
US President Donald Trump was forced to secretly switch planes after a NATO summit in Turkey due to a credible threat of a shoulder-fired missile attack, according to sources. The Secret Service and military made the decision to move the president onto a smaller government jet, citing safety concerns. Trump disclosed the switch to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, explaining that the Secret Service preferred the alternative flight for equal safety reasons.
The Washington Post and other media outlets reported the incident, citing unnamed US officials. The threat emerged during Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit, amid heightened tensions with Iran. The Secret Service deemed the threat credible and imminent, prompting an extraordinary operation to conceal Trump's movements. It was reported that US intelligence agencies intercepted multiple inputs indicating that Iran had precise information regarding Trump's whereabouts in Ankara.
A source mentioned that there was no clear plan for executing the threat, only intent, which led to the decision to use a catering truck to surreptitiously switch Trump and his aides from the larger Air Force One to a smaller, nondescript C-32A jet.
Written by urgent.news from Live Mint's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
