Iran's third Trump assassination plot prompts Air Force One decoy ruse

Israeli intelligence that Iran planned to down Air Force One with shoulder-fired missiles prompted the Secret Service to smuggle Trump off the plane in a catering truck in Ankara on July 8, the Journal reported.

"Supposedly, the Iranians could target the aircraft from within a one-kilometer radius using shoulder-fired missiles known as Manpads," one person familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.

The threat centered on Ankara Airport, a converted Turkish air force base where civilian buildings sit as close as 500 meters to the runway. Officials shifted Trump's departure to Esenboga Airport and brought back the older Air Force One because it carried air-defense systems the new aircraft lacked. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior aides remained aboard the decoy plane, which journalists and White House staff flew out on.

The episode marks the third known Iranian plot against Trump since 2024, after the arrests of Pakistani national Asif Merchant in July 2024 and Afghan national Farhad Shakeri in November 2024, and a March 2026 federal conviction of a Pakistani national on Revolutionary Guard-directed murder-for-hire charges. It landed at a delicate moment: Trump was negotiating a deal with Iran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries about 21 percent of global oil trade.

Turkish officials now suspect Israel fabricated the intelligence to derail those negotiations and undermine Trump's rapprochement with Ankara, Middle East Eye reported. During his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump indicated he was prepared to lift sanctions imposed over Turkey's 2019 purchase of Russia's S-400 missile system and to sell F-35 fighter jets to Ankara — a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes on grounds it would erode Israel's qualitative military edge.

"Of course, we took the report very seriously and tried to assist our American counterparts as much as possible," one person familiar with the matter told MEE. "Yet it was very clear to us that there was no way this report was true."

The skepticism reflects both operational and political realities. Iranian cells have previously kidnapped or assassinated dissidents in Turkey, but Tehran has never mounted a sophisticated operation there involving more than a simple firearm, according to people familiar with the matter. Such an attack would require safe houses, covert routes and the transport of Manpads through the extensive roadblocks and checkpoints erected for the summit.

A Decoy on the Tarmac

The Secret Service's response was elaborate. After Trump boarded the older Air Force One, agents bundled him into a catering vehicle and drove him to an accompanying C-32 military jet, according to The Washington Post. US officials sought additional landing permits for the C-32 and pushed for last-minute changes, leaving Ankara with the impression something was amiss. The reporters aboard the decoy plane never knew Trump had switched aircraft.

Strait of Hormuz Carries 21% of Global Oil

The timing of the intelligence report is central to the Turkish suspicion. Trump told Erdogan the war with Iran had ended and expressed hope about negotiations, a source who attended the meeting told MEE — a position that sharply contradicted Netanyahu's push for heavier strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure and a new assassination campaign targeting Iranian leaders.

Any renewed conflict would threaten crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 21 percent of global oil consumption, and lift prices. Iran has publicly thanked Turkey for not supporting what it described as a Mossad-CIA plot to trigger insurrection in western Iran, showing the delicate balance Ankara maintains between Washington and Tehran.

An Ankara insider told MEE it was ironic that details of the Secret Service operation had leaked just a month after the summit. "I guess they need heroes for an attack that never happened and, most likely, was never planned," the insider said.

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