WP: CIA Had “Low Confidence” in Trump Assassination Plot Claims

By Staff, Agencies

The US intelligence community reportedly expressed doubts about claims of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Donald Trump by targeting Air Force One as it departed a NATO summit in Turkey, according to The Washington Post.

The intelligence assessment was reportedly communicated to the Trump administration, but the US Secret Service nevertheless decided to covertly move the president to another aircraft.

US media reported on Monday that Trump was subjected to a secretive series of aircraft switches after leaving the summit. He initially boarded his newly acquired Boeing 747-8, gifted by Qatar, before secretly leaving that aircraft as well. Trump was then transported from the airport in a catering truck and flown to the United Kingdom aboard a smaller military aircraft.

After arriving in the UK, Trump reportedly reboarded the older Air Force One in an effort to create the impression that he had remained aboard the aircraft throughout the journey.

According to the Post, CIA analysts were highly skeptical of intelligence suggesting an imminent assassination attempt and communicated their assessment to the administration. An unnamed intelligence official said the reports were “‘Israeli’-derived, not US-generated, and viewed as low confidence.”

The disclosure has added to the controversy surrounding the covert operation, which reportedly left journalists and several senior officials unaware of both the aircraft switch and the nature of the alleged threat.

CNN senior reporter Aaron Blake said journalists had effectively been treated as “unwitting and unknowing decoys very much in the line of fire.”

Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that he had switched aircraft, saying he had followed instructions from the Secret Service and the military.

“I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane. I just have to do what they say,” Trump told reporters.

The controversy has also coincided with the announced departure of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said on Wednesday that she would leave her post at the end of the month “so she can spend more time” with her family.

Leavitt, 28, became a mother for the second time in May and returned to the White House following a hiatus in June. Her abrupt decision to leave office has fueled speculation that she may have been among the officials unknowingly left aboard the decoy aircraft and that the incident could have contributed to her departure.