President Donald Trump's appearance at the NATO summit in recent days has shed light on a pressing concern: the threat of an assassination attempt by Iran. Trump made it clear that he believes Iran wants him dead, stating, "I'm No. 1 on the kill list for Iran." He also joked, "I like being No. 1 on TikTok better."
Trump repeatedly brought up the topic of Iran's intentions during the summit, a candidness that may seem unusual for a president. A new report suggests that U.S. officials may have had fresh intelligence to support concerns about the threat, with Israel recently sharing intelligence with the United States indicating Iran had developed a new plan to assassinate Trump.
The report has added new context to questions surrounding Trump's decision to switch from the interim Air Force One to one of the legacy VC-25A aircraft during his return from the NATO summit. The White House has not said whether intelligence played any role in that decision. Trump flew to the summit in Turkey, which borders Iran, aboard the new Air Force One, but switched to an older Boeing VC-25A aircraft for the first leg of his trip home.
Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent, expressed surprise at the sudden change in aircraft, stating, "I just have never seen that in all my years." The president surmised in a press briefing that Iran may want revenge for the U.S. killing its leadership.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in recent days, with the truce between the two nations unraveling. The U.S.-Iran ceasefire, formalized in a June memorandum of understanding, was intended to halt fighting for 60 days while the two sides negotiated a broader agreement. However, the agreement rapidly broke down after Iran attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting renewed U.S. military action.
The threat to Trump's life has been a concern for U.S. officials for some time. Following the January 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed revenge, and U.S. officials have long warned that Tehran has sought to target current and former American officials involved in the operation.
Steven Cheung, White House director of communications, stated in a statement that the new Air Force One is secure, with high-level security protocols ensuring the safety of the President and his staff. However, the FBI and Secret Service have declined to comment on whether the Iranian threat level has changed.
Tom Warrick, a former Department of Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy, suggested that Iran's attempt to kill Trump would not be surprising given the country's history of retaliation. "The starting point is understanding Iran's peculiar sense of symmetry," Warrick said. "Anything that's done to them, they try to do back at somebody."
The U.S. Air Force has acknowledged that several complex modifications were intentionally left off the accelerated retrofitting of the interim Air Force One, including some missile detection and countermeasure systems. The new VC-25B aircraft, being built by Boeing, are expected to be completed in 2028 or 2029, with the U.S. spending $400 million upgrading the Qatari-donated jet to serve as Air Force One in the meantime.
