Iran threatened to kill Trump; he secretly switched planes in Ankara
Tehran has threatened that its retaliation for U.S. attacks on Iran would expand beyond the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported. Iran has also threatened to kill Trump, the Journal has reported. While in Turkey this summer, Trump pretended to board Air Force One and then secretly switched to a smaller plane after U.S. and Israeli intelligence uncovered a threat by Iranian proxies to launch a lightweight, shoulder-fired missile at the president’s plane as he departed Ankara, where he had traveled for a NATO summit.
That reporting on Iran’s threats accompanies the Journal’s account of how Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was moved from his Washington, D.C., home and into a military base because of threats against his life linked to Iran, according to a person familiar with the move. The move took place in recent weeks, and The New York Times previously reported it. The nature of the threats could not immediately be determined. The Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Bessent has spearheaded the Trump administration’s economic pressure campaign against Iran, warning countries and companies not to do business with Tehran in an effort to isolate and further squeeze the country.
The Treasury Department has intensified sanctions against Iran to weaken its economy, running in tandem with the military conflict that President Trump launched earlier this year to keep the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Bessent is not the first senior official to make such a move. Several Trump administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have lived in military housing after facing security concerns, including from demonstrators who appeared outside their homes.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. evacuated American aircraft from a base in England due to a threat from Iran.