CIA cast doubt on Israeli intelligence behind Trump's secret Turkey escape

U.S. intelligence officials were skeptical of an alleged Iranian assassination threat against U.S. President Donald Trump, information about which was provided by Israel. The Washington Post reported overnight Wednesday-Thursday, citing current and former U.S. intelligence officials. The warning led to a secret and unusual maneuver in which Trump was flown out of Turkey on an alternative military aircraft on July 8.

According to the report, the Israeli government passed the assassination threat to the CIA, but its analysts did not consider the intelligence compelling. One official said they expressed their skepticism to senior Trump administration officials. Another described reports of threats against the U.S. president's life as "Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence."

The operation launched last month to conceal Trump's location amid fears that Iran might target him or the aircraft he was traveling on was revealed overnight Monday-Tuesday. According to that report, Trump secretly left Turkey for Britain aboard a smaller military aircraft while Air Force One took off without him and effectively served as a decoy. The U.S. president's actual location was concealed for hours not only from the public and journalists but also from White House staff and many senior administration officials.

The deception operation took place after the NATO summit in Ankara, a day after the U.S. resumed strikes on Iran at Trump's direction following the collapse of talks between the sides to end the war. According to the Washington Post, security officials received a credible Iran-related warning that prompted the deception operation. CBS News reported last month, citing U.S. officials, that intelligence agencies had identified a credible plot to fire a missile at the aircraft carrying Trump, prompting the Secret Service to quickly switch to an alternative plan. The Wall Street Journal reported several days later that the president's departure from Turkey aboard the old Air Force One rather than the newer Qatari aircraft was due to intelligence received from Israel, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed this.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post noted that the White House did not directly answer questions about the intelligence received by the United States or how it was viewed by U.S. officials. "As the President has said, he has faced numerous threats on his life, including ones from Iran, and every measure is taken to ensure his safety," a U.S. official said in a statement. "The primary mission of the U.S. Secret Service is to protect the president, and they fulfilled that mission." The CIA declined to comment on the report and the Israeli Embassy in Washington had not responded to a request for details.

Despite doubts about the intelligence provided by Israel, a U.S. official said the Secret Service's plan in Ankara was carried out out of an abundance of caution. "The United States Secret Service's core mission is protecting the President, which they achieved," the official stressed.

According to a current U.S. official and a former U.S. official, some U.S. intelligence personnel viewed Jerusalem's sharing of the warning as an effort aimed less at informing Trump and more at influencing his decision-making and Washington's regional policy. The former official added that this "fit a broader pattern of Israeli intelligence reporting that some officials see as designed as much to shape presidential decision-making as to inform it."

Another U.S. official familiar with security discussions also questioned the severity of the threat, noting that tens of thousands of Turkish security personnel were involved in securing the NATO summit.

Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress pressed the Trump administration to provide further details about the deception operation. "I am very curious about the extent to which the Israeli-provided intelligence was not only credible but independently verifiable," Sen. Chris Van Hollen told the Washington Post.

On Wednesday, The New York Times published new details about the Iranian plot, based on two U.S. officials who it said were familiar with the threat. According to the report, U.S. intelligence relied on several streams of information in assessing the plot. American officials learned of a specific threat to fire a surface-to-air missile at the presidential aircraft and that a person near the NATO summit had been spotted with a shoulder-fired missile. The report also said the Iranians knew specifically where Trump was staying in Ankara, including which floor of the building.