US President Donald Trump secretly switched to an alternate aircraft on his return from the NATO summit in Turkey last month, reportedly due to credible intelligence of an Iranian missile threat to Air Force One. The president was transported to and from the aircraft inside a catering truck, while the media and most White House staff departed on the decoy plane.

This incident highlights the personal nature of the conflict between the US and Iran. In February, after the US military campaign began, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike conducted with US approval. Trump remarked, "I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed this, stating, "Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh."

The White House has provided little detail about the threat, but the secret operation underscores the apparent threat Iran continues to pose to US interests. Trump asserts the war is almost over and the adversary has been thoroughly defeated, yet the risk of Iranian retaliation remains.

Threats against Trump are not new. After the killing of Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Iranian leaders promised reprisals. In 2024, two individuals were arrested for plotting to assassinate Trump. The president himself has joked about the dangers of his position, saying, "Nobody told me how dangerous it is to be president, and if they had told me, I probably wouldn't have run."

In Iran, public sentiment is equally aggressive. Murals depicting Trump in a coffin with slogans like "We will kill Trump" and "Blood for blood" have appeared in Tehran, signaling that the war is far from over and Trump remains a target for revenge.

Trump acknowledges this threat, telling reporters, "I have read all the time I'm number one on their list. But if I go, you go, right?"

Source: www.bbc.co.uk