President Trump’s recent trip to Turkey was cut short due to a potential assassination threat from Iran. The threat was deemed serious enough that extreme measures needed to be taken to ensure the president’s safety.

The Threat and the Plan

American officials had come to the president with alarming information that the Iranians knew which luxury chain hotel he’d been staying at in Ankara and were aware of how his motorcade was moving around the Turkish capital. The Iranians remained intent on killing him, potentially by using a shoulder-mounted missile to take down Air Force One.

The Israeli government had shared the intelligence of the potential Iranian assassination plot with the CIA. However, the agency, as well as some other Trump officials, viewed the Israeli intelligence skeptically. Some within the CIA had raised questions about the credibility of the intelligence, as well as whether Iran even had such capabilities to carry through such an attack.

Execution of the Plan

A small group of senior officials, including Gen. Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman, spent the morning and afternoon in Turkey assessing their options and updating Trump as he moved between meetings with world leaders. The plan concocted by his advisers and the Secret Service would rely on a carefully planned deception that has long been in the playbook for presidential safety.

Trump posted online that the new, Qatar-donated jet would be flying to an airbase in Britain to give troops there a chance to tour it. In fact, he would be taking neither. The plan required Trump to board the older Air Force One jet and quickly leave the country.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.