US tightens security for Trump after Israeli warnings of Iranian threats

The United States received several warnings from Israel this year regarding alleged Iranian plans to assassinate President Donald Trump, including alerts that preceded the use of a covert decoy involving Air Force One during Trump’s visit to Turkey. According to a current US official and two former officials, American intelligence agencies were unable to independently verify these warnings.

Sources said the Israeli warnings, delivered directly by Israeli officials to senior White House figures, outlined possible scenarios such as an attempt to shoot Trump by a sniper or attack him with a knife at a public event. These alerts began before the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified as the US moved closer to entering conflict with Iran in February.

The US official and a person familiar with the matter confirmed that the most detailed warning came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, when Israeli officials informed the White House of intelligence suggesting Trump could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile after arriving on Air Force One. US intelligence assessments concluded Iran was seeking revenge for the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, ordered by Trump, but the CIA could not verify some of the specific threats.

Regarding the NATO summit, a Turkish official said his country’s intelligence agencies found no evidence to support Israel’s claims about threats to Trump and informed the US accordingly. Despite the lack of confirmation, the White House and Secret Service took precautionary measures, including an extraordinary deception operation during the Turkey trip that involved transferring Trump from Air Force One to another aircraft upon departure.

Impact of Israeli intelligence on US decision-making

The incident highlights the influence of Israeli intelligence on Trump administration decisions regarding Iran, amid differing assessments between US and Israeli agencies about the Iranian threat. Earlier in the year, US intelligence agencies assessed that Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, while Israel considered Tehran an imminent danger.

Despite US intelligence reports, Trump proceeded with airstrikes on Iran in February, taking into account Israeli information about an assassination attempt before the military campaign. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy denied using intelligence to sway Washington’s Iran policy, while the White House and CIA declined to comment.

Channels for intelligence sharing and credibility assessment

The US has long relied on Israeli intelligence on Middle East issues, especially Iran. Two former US officials explained that such information typically reaches the CIA or National Security Agency through official channels for subsequent analysis, but US agencies often cannot fully verify its accuracy and use other sources to assess credibility.

A former official and a source familiar with the matter said the CIA assessed its confidence in Israeli intelligence on Iranian threats, including plots against Trump, as “low” in several instances during US strikes on Iran. It remains unclear how widely these assessments were circulated within the administration, and the NSA declined to comment.

Two former US officials described several occasions last year when Israeli officials directly contacted the White House to brief senior Trump administration officials on Iranian threats, amid a crisis in information sharing within the administration. They noted that the CIA last year stopped coordinating and sharing intelligence with the National Intelligence Council due to rising tensions with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The National Intelligence Council is the elite analytical body of US agencies, overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and produces reports reflecting the broader intelligence community’s views. The CIA had been the council’s largest contributor, and officials attributed the recent decline in council assessments on Iran in part to layoffs at the director’s office.