REVEALED: Secret Service shot down drone above Trump campaign motorcade amid Iran threats

A report published on Axios by Isenstadt, detailing his forthcoming book “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power,” describes US authorities’ concerns over a potential attack on Trump orchestrated by Iran during the campaign. According to Isenstadt, law enforcement officials reportedly warned Trump’s campaign that Iran had placed operatives within the US with access to surface-to-air missiles.

The Trump team feared that Iranian agents could attempt to take down Trump’s private jet, “Trump Force One,” during takeoff or landing. Concerns intensified after a failed assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September.

While Iran has not been officially linked to that attempt or the more widely known assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, two months earlier, Trump’s security detail took Iranian threats seriously. The book claims that at one point, Trump traveled to an event using a decoy plane owned by businessman Steve Witkoff, while most of his staff remained on Trump Force One. Some aides were reportedly unaware of the switch until just before takeoff, raising concerns for their own safety.

The book also details other security threats, including a Secret Service warning after a New York rally in September that intelligence suggested someone might attempt to shoot at Trump’s motorcade.

These revelations come ahead of the book’s release on March 18. They also follow recent remarks from Trump after returning to office, in which he stated that he had instructed his team to “obliterate” Iran if he were to be assassinated. Trump has remained a high-profile target for Iran, particularly since ordering the airstrike that killed top Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in 2020.