US intelligence indicated Iran knew Trump’s exact location in Ankara, including hotel floor, amid missile threat during NATO summit: Report
New York: US intelligence agencies intercepted multiple streams of information showing that Iran possessed precise details of President Donald Trump’s location in Ankara during last month’s NATO summit, including the specific floor of the building where he was staying, according to a New York Times report published this week.
Two US officials familiar with the intelligence told the newspaper that the information emerged as Trump prepared to leave the Turkish capital on July 8, the final day of the summit. The intelligence pointed to a specific surface-to-air missile threat against whichever aircraft was carrying the president. Officials also learned that a person in the vicinity of the summit had been spotted with a shoulder-fired missile.
The combination of details — Iranian knowledge of Trump’s precise accommodation and the reported missile threat — was judged sufficiently credible to trigger an elaborate security deception. Trump publicly boarded an older Air Force One aircraft in view of cameras after announcing he would use it “for old time’s sake.” He was then secretly moved off the plane inside an airport catering container and transferred to a smaller military aircraft that flew him out of Turkey.
The original Air Force One departed carrying senior US officials, government staff, journalists and military personnel, effectively serving as a decoy. Passengers aboard that flight were reportedly not fully briefed on the severity of the threat. Among those on the decoy aircraft were senior figures including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top White House aides.
The New York Times noted that the operation may have redirected potential risk from the president onto those remaining on the main presidential plane. Window shades on the decoy flight from Ankara to Britain were ordered drawn during the journey.
The revelations expand on earlier reporting about the unusual aircraft swap that followed the NATO summit in Turkey. The intelligence is separate from other warnings, including those reportedly shared by Israeli sources about Iranian plots targeting Trump.
The incident occurred against the backdrop of heightened US-Iran tensions, with American strikes on Iranian targets taking place around the time of the summit. Trump had publicly spoken during the gathering about Iranian efforts to target him, stating he was “on every list.”
No independent confirmation of the intelligence has been publicly released by the White House or intelligence agencies, and Iranian officials have not commented on the specific claims in the report.
