Trump swapped planes over assassination fears – NYT
US President Donald Trump abruptly switched planes after leaving a NATO summit in Türkiye this month following reports of a supposed Iranian plot to kill him, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trump flew out of Ankara aboard the older Air Force One instead of the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which lacks the same defensive capabilities, according to the NYT. Officials reportedly believed there was a credible threat from “Iranian proxy forces” against the president’s life.
The switch coincided with reports that Israel had shared intelligence with the US suggesting Iran was planning to target Trump. Some US officials, however, believed Israel was trying to provoke Trump into intensifying strikes against Iran, the NYT said.
The US and Israel killed dozens of senior Iranian officials and military commanders during their bombing campaign, including the country’s longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a targeted strike on his compound in Tehran on February 28.
Trump later claimed he was on Iran’s hit list and warned that thousands of missiles would be fired at the country if it attempted to assassinate him.
Iran’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed this month to avenge his father, without mentioning Trump by name. Many protesters in Iran, however, called for Trump’s death during funeral processions for the elder Khamenei and other officials.
A truce collapsed this month as the US resumed strikes on Iran in response to attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The two countries previously clashed over differing interpretations of the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.
