The United States has received several warnings from Israel over the past year that Iran intended to assassinate President Donald Trump, including before a secret Air Force One ruse in Turkey, that U.S. intelligence officials could not independently verify, according to a current U.S. official and two former officials. The warnings, passed to U.S. intelligence agencies and in some cases relayed directly by Israeli officials to senior White House officials, included possible plots to shoot Trump with a sniper or recruit someone to attack him with a knife at a large public event.
The tips began in the lead-up to the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified prior to the U.S. decision to go to war in Iran in February, the sources said. The most detailed warning came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, when Israeli officials briefed the White House about intelligence that indicated Iran may try to kill Trump, potentially with a shoulder-launched missile, while he traveled on Air Force One for the summit.
CIA Low Confidence and Turkish Assessment
The Central Intelligence Agency has not been able to corroborate some of the specific threats against Trump's life shared by Israeli intelligence since early last year, the officials said. In the case of the NATO episode, a Turkish official said the country's intelligence agencies also did not have any evidence to corroborate the Israeli claim about the threat to Trump's life, an assessment the host country shared with Americans. The CIA assessed it had 'low confidence' in the intelligence, a view that was conveyed to Trump's team when the information was relayed.
Despite the lack of verification, White House officials and the Secret Service took steps to mitigate the threats out of an abundance of caution, including an extraordinary deception operation during the Turkey trip that involved moving Trump from Air Force One to a different aircraft for his flight out of the country. Trump was evacuated first to the United Kingdom, where he later boarded an Air Force C-32A plane back to the U.S. The Secret Service decided it could not take a chance on even the possibility of a threat and recommended enhanced security for the president's departure.
Broader Disagreement Between U.S. and Israeli Intelligence
The episode underscores how Israeli intelligence is influencing the Trump administration's decision-making about Iran at a time of heightened tensions with Tehran — and broader disagreement between U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments on Iran's threat overall. Earlier this year, American intelligence agencies assessed that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon, even as Israel argued Tehran posed an urgent threat. Despite the reports from the U.S. intelligence community, Trump moved forward with strikes in Iran in February, also taking into consideration intelligence shared by Israel that Tehran had tried to assassinate him before launching the military campaign.
The U.S. has long relied heavily on Israeli intelligence on Middle East matters, particularly as they relate to Iran. The intelligence typically flows to the CIA or the National Security Agency through formal channels and is subsequently analyzed. The U.S. intelligence agencies often cannot verify Israeli intelligence but will use other forms of information to make judgment calls on its authenticity and accuracy.
Official Responses
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy disputed that Israel was using its intelligence to influence U.S. policy on Iran. 'The same people who claim that Israel is trying to influence U.S. policy through alleged intelligence sharing would just as soon accuse Israel of concealing critical information if it benefited their own agenda,' the spokesperson said. The White House and CIA both declined comment. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to discuss specific intelligence matters but said the agency remains focused on Trump's security amid recent assassination attempts and an increase in threats against the president. 'The U.S. Secret Service continuously analyzes a wide range of information to guide our protective operations in real time and across every location we secure,' he said.
