US President Donald Trump’s abrupt change of planes when departing Turkey earlier this month — from the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One to the older model — was the result of information on a “credible threat” by Iranian proxies to attempt to harm him, The New York Times reported Friday.

This threat, the report noted, was not tied to the new plane specifically, but the aircraft’s lack of advanced defenses made travel in it more dangerous.

The Times was previously the first to report that the plane swap was the result of security concerns, leading Trump’s Justice Department to attempt to subpoena its journalists to force them to divulge their sources, though it later abandoned that attempt.

Trump has spoken recently about ostensible Iranian efforts to assassinate him, threatening terrible consequences for the country if an attempt is made on his life.

He has said that his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet needed to be sent off for a month to be “maxed out,” following questions about the plane’s security features.

Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July 1 after accepting the plane as a gift last year, when an accelerated effort to renovate the Boeing 747 for presidential use began.

But Trump unexpectedly ditched the plane on a flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom amid rising hostility with Iran on July 8. He flew aboard an older Air Force One to London in what........

© The Times of Israel