White House Had Low Confidence in Israeli Tip That Led to Trump’s Plane Decoy

Senior officials, including Marco Rubio and Scott Bessent, were on the plane Trump left, along with reporters.

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The Washington Post reported Monday that due to an alleged Iranian threat to assassinate President Trump, he secretly swapped planes before departing the July NATO summit in Turkey — leaving senior administration officials, staff and members of the press corps on board.

“The Israelis passed a tip, a concern, that the plane and potentially the president was under threat,” says Dan Lamothe, one of the Washington Post reporters who broke the story. But it turns out the “CIA had low confidence” in the Israeli tip, according to a more recent Post story Lamothe co-authored on Thursday. “I think that kind of leaves the Secret Service in a tough spot of assessing: What do you do in this zero-fail mission to keep the president safe?”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We begin today’s show looking at how an alleged Iranian threat to assassinate President Trump led to a secret operation last month that possibly endangered the lives of journalists and White House staffers. The Washington Post reported on Monday that President Trump secretly switched planes before departing a NATO summit in Turkey.

Ahead of his departure from Ankara on July 8th, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he would not be flying on the newly refurbished Boeing 747-8 jet gifted by Qatar, but instead on the older Air Force One “for old time’s sake,” he said. That announcement led to revelations that the Qatari plane lacked some of the safety features of the legacy Air Force One — leaks that angered the White House and led to subpoenas of New York Times reporters.

AMY GOODMAN: But the Post revealed Monday the president actually departed on a third plane. President Trump was seen boarding the old Air Force One, but then secretly left through another door and was shuttled in an airport catering truck along with several aides to a third plane. The press was asked to lower their shades before the operation, presumably so they would not see the president’s exit. Senior officials who were left on the plane along with the staff and reporters included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The White House never revealed the secret operation.

On Tuesday, President Trump was asked by reporters about the plane switch and the risk posed to the reporters on the decoy flight.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they like to do. So, I go by Secret Service, and the military. …

REPORTER 1: Mr. President, on the midterms —

REPORTER 2: Why was it too dangerous for you to fly on Air Force One, but not too dangerous for the press?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know. I think, actually, the plane that I flew on was at greater risk. I think it was at greater risk.

REPORTER 2: Why do you say that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because that would be the plane, I think, they’ll be — that they would be more likely to go for.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News met privately with senior White House officials Tuesday to convey concerns from the press corps. In an internal memo to members afterwards, she said, quote, “I … asked the White House to work with us on a protocol … that recognizes the Secret Service’s responsibility to respond to genuine threats while protecting press safety, preserving independent coverage of the president, and providing a mechanism to correct the record after the fact when necessary.”

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by the reporter who broke the story: national security writer for The Washington Post, Dan Lamothe. But his latest piece is headlined ”CIA had ‘low confidence’ in Iranian threat before Trump switched planes in Turkey.” In it, Lamothe reports the intelligence about the assassination threat against President Trump had come to the CIA from the Israeli government but was not seen by the CIA as highly credible.

Dan, before you talk about the president believing he was threatened and moving to a third plane, first the Qatar jet, then the old Air Force One and then this military jet, before you talk about him leaving it and presumably leaving the press in the endangered plane, you now have this new story that the U.S. CIA didn’t even think …