The Islamic Republic of Iran’s efforts to assassinate President Donald Trump were far more extensive than previously reported, as was the president’s fear of having another attempt on his life.
In his new forthcoming book, “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt says that he was given “extensive access” to Trump’s inner circle during his campaign.
“Law enforcement officials warned Trump last year that Tehran had placed operatives in the U.S. with access to surface-to-air missiles,” he wrote in a report published at Axios. “Trump’s team worried that the Iranians could try to down his easily recognizable personal jet — better known as ‘Trump Force One’ — as it was taking off or landing.”
Their concern that Iran would try to shoot down his airplane intensified after he survived a foiled assassination attempt at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.
The threat was so serious that at least on one occasion Secret Service made Trump fly on a different plane rather than his own.
Trump’s plane was flown as a decoy with a number of his aides on board.
There was another incident that had not been previously disclosed in which Secret Service shot down a drone that had been following Trump’s motorcade using an electromagnetic gun that disabled it.
The threats from Iran come as Trump threatened last week to unleash all hell on the country if they dared to assassinate any current or former U.S. officials.
Trump said last week that he has left behind instructions for the U.S. military detailing what they will be ordered to do if he is assassinated by Iran.
“And that would be a terrible thing for them to do,” he said. “Not because of me, because if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions — if they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left.”
Related: Trump Reimposing His ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign On Iran
