US President Donald Trump abruptly switched planes, moving from the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 to Air Force One, raising eyebrows during his return from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
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The information retrieved by US officials at the time stated that Iran’s proxy forces were not targeting the new plane in specific but had plans to target the President and any aircraft that he might be travelling in.
A report from the NYT, published at the time, revealed that federal officials’ security concerns surrounding the security capabilities of the new jet prompted the government to launch a a leak investigation seeking grand jury testimony from several journalists, including their phone records. The subpoenas issued in this matter were recently withdrawn by the Justice Department.
President Trump has long complained about the inefficiency of the current Air Force One models to use for foreign trips. White House officials, however, describe the use of the new plane as a “bridge” until the Boeing jets commissioned by the Air Force are delivered.
Following Trump’s return from the NATO summit, White House officials revealed that the new plane would be taken out of service for about a month as it underwent additional upgrades. During that period, the President will continue to use the old Air Force One as per White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement.
A senior administration official, who NYT said spoke on the condition of anonymity, placed full faith in security arrangements made to ensure the Trump’s protection as well as that of the travelling delegation.
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At the time, the President had claimed that the switch was done to give American service members in Britain a chance to tour the new Qatari aircraft, denying any security-related reasons. Multiple American officials also reportedly viewed Israeli intelligence on assassination threats with skepticism and suspected a possible intent to prompt the President to intensify attacks against Iran.
The matter was kept air-tight to the extent of multiple administration officials and key Congress members also being told that the switch was a precautionary measure, rather than receiving a full briefing on the matter.
Security concerns with the Qatar-gifted plane continue, however, with even the President telling a reporter that the aircraft’s lack of antimissile defences could lead to it soon being “maxed out”, the NYT report stated. The plane lacks inherent features present in old Boeing models such as that of the Air Force One.
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A credible threat, reportedly from Iranian proxy forces, targeting the President prompted the switch due to the new aircraft’s limited defense capabilities in comparison to the regular mode of presidential travel, i.e., Air Force One, the New York Times reported, citing multiple sources.
This threat echoes a similar possibility raised by Israeli intelligence groups following the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former Supreme Leader, who was assassinated by US forces via airstrikes at the start of the ongoing West Asia conflict.
President Trump had publicly responded to these threats at the time by declaring that “1000 missiles” were “locked and loaded at the Islamic Republic of Iran” should they follow through on an assassination attempt. “The US military is ready, willing and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran,” he further added in a social media post.
While at the NATO summit, President Trump reiterated assassination threats from Iran, as per NYT. “They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” he said. “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
