Trump secretly switched to military jet in Turkey after Israel warned of assassination plot

President Donald Trump secretly switched to a military aircraft when leaving Turkey after last month's NATO summit, after Israel passed US officials intelligence warning of an Iranian assassination plot, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

A US government official told the Wall Street Journal that Israel had relayed intelligence about an Iranian assassination attempt, including information that shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles could be used to target Air Force One. The official added that no missile was ultimately fired at the aircraft and that it was the first such deception operation during Trump's current term.

The Journal said it could not confirm how credible the threat intelligence was, but that Secret Service officials determined at the time that extraordinary measures were needed to protect the president.

The covert escape — which amounted to an intelligence operation — first came to light through a Washington Post report on Monday.

On July 8, Trump was seen boarding Air Force One at Ankara's airport in Turkey, then slipped out through a door on the opposite side of the aircraft into a catering container and transferred to a military transport plane, which flew him to the United Kingdom.

White House press corps journalists aboard Air Force One believed Trump was on the plane with them. The aircraft effectively served as a decoy to draw off the Iranian assassination threat.

Reporters traveling from Turkey to the United Kingdom were asked to lower their window shades at takeoff. When journalists asked Trump that evening whether he knew why they had been told to lower the shades, he said only that it was "probably a dangerous flight because of the dirty bastards we have to deal with."

The C-32A transport carrying Trump flew to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom with its tracking system switched off, using the routine call sign "Reach 18" rather than "Air Force One" — the air traffic control call sign reserved for any aircraft carrying the US president.

Upon arriving in the United Kingdom, Trump quickly transferred back to Air Force One before reporters could notice, then appeared before cameras to greet US service members.