* Israeli tips included alleged sniper, knife and shoulder-launched missile threats against Trump, sources say
Key Statements
Israeli officials briefed the White House about intelligence that indicated Iran may try to kill Trump, potentially with a shoulder-launched missile, while he traveled on Air Force One for the summit, the officials said. Despite the lack of verification, White House officials and the Secret Service have taken steps to mitigate the threats out of an abundance of caution, including an extraordinary deception operation during the Turkey trip that involved moving Trump from Air Force One to a different aircraft for his flight out of the country. That episode underscores how Israeli intelligence is influencing the Trump administration’s decision-making about Iran at a time of heightened tensions with Tehran — and broader disagreement between U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments on Iran’s threat overall.
The tips began in the lead-up to the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified prior to the U.S. decision to go to war in Iran in February, the sources said. The U.S. intelligence community has long assessed that Iran wants to retaliate for Trump’s killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
WASHINGTON, – The U.S. has received several warnings from Israel over the past year that Iran intended to assassinate President Donald Trump, including before a secret Air Force One ruse in Turkey, that U.S. intelligence officials could not independently verify, according to a current U.S. official and two former officials. The warnings, passed to U.S. intelligence agencies and in some cases relayed directly by Israeli officials to senior White House officials, included possible plots to shoot Trump with a sniper or recruit someone to attack him with a knife at a large public event, the sources said. The most detailed warning came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, the U.S. official and the other person familiar with the matter said. But the Central Intelligence Agency has not been able to corroborate some of the specific threats against Trump’s life shared by Israeli intelligence since early last year, the officials said. In the case of the NATO episode, a Turkish official said the country’s intelligence agencies also did not have any evidence to corroborate the Israeli claim about the threat to Trump’s life, an assessment the host country shared with Americans.
Political Context
Trump had reportedly been seen switching between three aircraft, which the Republican leader confirmed later. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy disputed that Israel was using its intelligence to influence U.S. policy on Iran. Earlier reporting noted: Amid the buzz of Trump’s plane switch, it was widely reported that the US President was prompted to switch planes due to “a credible threat from Iranian proxies.
“The same people who claim that Israel is trying to influence U.S. policy through alleged intelligence sharing would just as soon accuse Israel of concealing critical information if it benefited their own agenda,” the spokesperson said. The current and former officials said Israeli intelligence on Iran typically flows to the CIA or the National Security Agency through formal channels and is subsequently analyzed, two former U.S. officials said. The U.S. intelligence agencies often can’t verify Israeli intelligence but will use other forms of information to make judgment calls on its authenticity and accuracy, the officials said. Earlier reporting noted: Iranian threat to Trump ‘not compelling enough’ for CIA before plane switch in Turkey: Report US President Donald Trump recently switched out planes during a summit in Turkey due to a “threat”. Earlier reporting noted: According to a Washington Post report, the threat was real, but the Central Intelligence Agency deemed it”not compelling enough.”
