Israel Told Trump Officials About Alleged ‘Shoulder-To-Air-Missiles To Target Air Force One’
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Israeli officials told their U.S. counterparts about an alleged Iranian assassination plot against President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Trump traveled to last month’s NATO summit in Turkey aboard a new Qatari-gifted Air Force One plane. However, upon departure from Turkey, the president said he would travel on the “former Air Force One,” which later landed in the U.K. before returning to the U.S.
But on Monday, The Washington Post reported that, contrary to what had been publicly understood, Trump did not fly out of Turkey on an Air Force One jet. Instead, after boarding the “former Air Force One” in view of TV cameras, Trump was stealthily whisked away to a catering container, which was then transported to an Air Force C-32A, a U.S. official told the Post, which also reviewed documents corroborating the claim.
While Trump was at the summit on July 8, the Journal reported that Israeli officials told their U.S. counterparts about an alleged Iranian threat against Trump.
Still, the report at the time did not offer specifics. Now, however, citing a U.S. official and one other person briefed on the matter, the Journal reported on Tuesday that Israel briefed the Trump administration about intelligence it said it gathered regarding a threat on Trump’s life, “which included a threat to use shoulder-to-air missiles to target Air Force One.”
Meanwhile, White House staff, members of the press, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio all flew on Air Force One, which in the threat scenario acted as a “decoy” plane.
It was not the first time Israel presented the Trump administration with alleged intelligence on Iran. On Feb. 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave a presentation to Trump and top U.S. officials in the Situation Room, where he claimed that Israeli intel showed that Iran was ripe for regime change. After Netanyahu left the room, Rubio reportedly called the presentation “bullsh*t.”
Just over two weeks later on Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched the ongoing war on Iran.
The post Israel Told Trump Officials About Alleged ‘Shoulder-To-Air-Missiles To Target Air Force One’ first appeared on Mediaite.