Israeli Warnings of Iran Assassination Plots Against Trump Could Not Be Verified by US Intelligence

WASHINGTON — The relationship between allied intelligence services and the independent verification of threat data has long defined the reliability of national security decisions, particularly in high-stakes geopolitical environments. Over the past year, that dynamic has come under renewed scrutiny as the United States intelligence community has grappled with a series of unverified Israeli warnings alleging Iranian plots to assassinate President Donald Trump — warnings that nonetheless shaped significant security and military decisions at the highest levels of the US government.

According to a current US official and two former officials who spoke to Reuters, US intelligence agencies received multiple warnings from Israel over the past year indicating that Iran intended to assassinate President Trump. Despite the gravity of those claims, American intelligence officials were unable to independently verify the threats.

Israeli Intelligence Relays Multiple Unverified Assassination Threat Warnings to Washington

The warnings, which began in the lead-up to the 12-day US-Israel military campaign against Iran in June 2025 and intensified prior to the US decision to launch direct military strikes against Iran in February 2026, were passed through formal intelligence channels and in some cases delivered directly by senior Israeli officials to White House personnel, according to the sources.

The alleged plots described in those warnings ranged from a sniper attack against President Trump to a scenario in which an operative would be recruited to attack him with a knife at a large public event. The most detailed warning came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July 2026. Israeli officials briefed White House staff on intelligence suggesting Iran might attempt to strike Air Force One with a shoulder-launched missile while Trump traveled to the summit.

A Turkish government official confirmed that Turkey’s own intelligence agencies found no evidence to corroborate the Israeli claim about the missile threat — an assessment that Ankara shared directly with American counterparts.

The Central Intelligence Agency assessed that it had “low confidence” in several specific Israeli intelligence reports regarding Iranian threats to Trump’s life, including any alleged assassination planning, according to one former official and another person familiar with the matter.

Unverified Iran Threat Intelligence Triggers Extraordinary Security Measures for Trump’s Turkey Visit

Despite the lack of independent corroboration, US security and White House officials took precautionary action in response to the warnings. The most visible result was a covert deception operation during Trump’s visit to Turkey for the NATO summit: the President was moved from Air Force One to a different aircraft for his departure from the country, a maneuver designed to neutralise the possibility of a missile strike on the known presidential aircraft.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to discuss the specifics of any intelligence matters but confirmed the agency’s ongoing vigilance. “The US Secret Service continuously analyses a wide range of information to guide our protective operations in real time and across every location we secure,” Guglielmi stated, noting that the agency remains focused on Trump’s security amid recent assassination attempts and a documented increase in threats against the president.

The White House and the CIA both declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

Iran Assassination Threat Intelligence From Israel Reveals Wider Divergence in US-Israeli Assessments

The episode highlights a pattern that has emerged over the past year: Israeli intelligence has exerted significant influence over Trump administration decision-making on Iran at a time when US and Israeli intelligence assessments have diverged sharply on the nature of the Iranian threat.

Earlier in 2026, American intelligence agencies formally assessed that Iran was not actively constructing a nuclear weapon. Israel, by contrast, argued that Tehran represented an urgent and immediate existential threat. Despite the US intelligence community’s assessment, President Trump proceeded with direct military strikes against Iran in February 2026. Reuters previously reported that Trump also factored in Israeli-shared intelligence alleging Iranian assassination plots against him when making that decision.

The US has long relied heavily on Israeli intelligence on Middle East matters, particularly regarding Iran. Intelligence shared by Israel typically flows to the CIA or the National Security Agency through established formal channels, where it is subsequently analysed. US agencies often cannot independently verify Israeli intelligence but draw on additional information sources to make judgment calls on its authenticity and accuracy, former officials noted.

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington rejected the characterisation that Israel was leveraging intelligence to shape US policy on Iran. “The same people who claim that Israel is trying to influence US policy through alleged intelligence sharing would just as soon accuse Israel of concealing critical information if it benefited their own agenda,” the spokesperson stated.

Intelligence Sharing Breakdown Inside Trump Administration Further Complicates Iran Threat Analysis

Public disclosures and accounts from multiple former officials reveal a simultaneous deterioration in coordination within the US intelligence community itself — a development that has complicated Washington’s ability to produce comprehensive, verified assessments of the Iranian threat.

Last year, amid heightened tensions with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the CIA halted its coordination and intelligence sharing with the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the intelligence community’s elite analytical body overseen by ODNI. The CIA had historically been the single largest contributor to NIC assessments. As a result, fewer comprehensive, community-wide intelligence assessments focused on Iran — and other critical topics — are now being produced, according to officials and others familiar with the matter.

In this environment, direct engagement by Israeli officials has filled part of the analytical vacuum. Two former US officials described multiple instances over the past year in which senior Israeli officials and their representatives called the White House Situation Room directly to brief senior Trump administration personnel on alleged Iranian threats — bypassing the formal analytical review process that would ordinarily accompany such intelligence.

The National Security Agency declined to comment.

Frequently Asked Questions: Iranian Assassination Plots Against Trump and US-Israeli Intelligence Sharing

What did Israel warn the United States about regarding Iran and President Trump? Israel passed multiple warnings to US intelligence agencies and White House officials over the past year alleging that Iran was planning to assassinate President Donald Trump. Specific alleged plots included a sniper attack and recruiting an operative to attack Trump with a knife at a public event, as well as a shoulder-launched missile threat against Air Force One during the NATO summit in Ankara in July 2026.

Were US intelligence agencies able to verify Israel’s warnings about Iranian assassination plots against Trump? No. According to a current US official and two former officials, US intelligence agencies, including the CIA, were unable to independently corroborate the specific threats passed by Israeli intelligence. The CIA assessed “low confidence” in several of those Israeli intelligence reports. Turkey’s intelligence services separately confirmed they also found no evidence to support the missile threat claim made ahead of the NATO summit.

What security measures did the US take in response to the unverified Israeli threat warnings? Despite the lack of independent verification, the White House and Secret Service took precautionary action. Most notably, during Trump’s visit to Turkey for the NATO summit, a covert operation was conducted in which Trump was moved from Air Force One to a separate aircraft for his departure, designed to counter any potential shoulder-launched missile attack on the known presidential plane.

How has Israeli intelligence influenced US decision-making on Iran? According to current and former officials, Israeli intelligence — including unverified assassination threat warnings — has directly influenced Trump administration decisions on Iran. President Trump factored in Israeli-shared intelligence about alleged Iranian assassination plots when deciding to launch military strikes against Iran in February 2026, even though US intelligence agencies had separately assessed that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon at the time.

Why did the CIA stop sharing intelligence with the National Intelligence Council? Last year, amid escalating tensions with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA ceased coordinating and sharing intelligence with the National Intelligence Council, the analytical body that produces comprehensive, community-wide intelligence assessments. The CIA was previously the largest single contributor to NIC assessments. This breakdown has resulted in fewer comprehensive intelligence evaluations on Iran and other critical national security topics being produced.

What did the Israeli embassy say about allegations that Israel was using intelligence to influence US policy? An Israeli embassy spokesperson in Washington disputed the characterisation, stating: “The same people who claim that Israel is trying to influence US policy through alleged intelligence sharing would just as soon accuse Israel of concealing critical information if it benefited their own agenda.” The spokesperson did not address the specific substance of the intelligence warnings.

Why does the US intelligence community have difficulty independently verifying Israeli intelligence on Iran? US intelligence agencies often cannot directly corroborate Israeli intelligence, particularly when it involves human intelligence sources or classified collection methods that Israel does not share in full. In such cases, agencies use other available information to make analytical judgments about the credibility and accuracy of the shared intelligence. In several instances related to the alleged Trump assassination plots, that process resulted in a “low confidence” assessment by the CIA.

As geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran remain elevated following the February 2026 US military campaign, the question of how allied intelligence warnings shape executive decision-making — and the degree to which such warnings can be independently verified — continues to carry significant implications for US national security policy. The accounts described by current and former officials underscore an intelligence environment marked by internal coordination failures, divergent allied assessments, and security responses taken under conditions of fundamental analytical uncertainty.