Israel’s warning that Iran was planning to assassinate Donald Trump has exposed a dangerous mix of real threats, political games, and a system that many Americans already fear is putting elite agendas ahead of their safety.
Story Snapshot
- Israel shared intelligence claiming Iran had a new plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, but U.S. officials have not verified the details.
- U.S. prosecutors have already charged and convicted people tied to Iranian-backed plots to kill Trump and other officials, showing some threats are real.
- Iran’s president flatly denies his government ever tried to kill Trump, calling the allegations part of a campaign to stir fear about Iran.
- The clash of claims, with few public facts, fuels public distrust and raises questions about how intelligence is used to shape war and policy.
What Israel Says About a New Plot Against Trump
Israel told the United States that its intelligence services had picked up a new plan</b by Iran to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the report. The warning, shared earlier in the week, described a specific plot and came after weeks of separate intelligence about possible threats against Trump. U.S. officials, however, have said they have not</b yet independently confirmed Israel’s information, and key details of the alleged plan remain secret or unknown to the public.
The timing of Israel’s warning raised eyebrows in Washington because it landed as a ceasefire with Iran was starting to fray and as Trump weighed whether to expand military strikes. Some American officials have suggested the intelligence may also serve Israel’s interests by pushing Trump toward a harder line on Iran. For many Americans on both the right and the left, that possibility fits a familiar fear: foreign allies and U.S. insiders using “classified” claims to steer policy without showing the full evidence.
Evidence of Earlier Iranian-Linked Plots
Separate from Israel’s latest warning, U.S. courts and the Department of Justice have already handled cases that point to real, Iran-linked assassination plotting against Trump and other officials. In 2024, prosecutors charged Farhad Shakeri over an alleged plan ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to surveil and kill Trump before the election. Charging papers say an Iranian official told Shakeri that money was “not an issue” and later ordered him to submit a plan to assassinate Trump within one week.
Those same documents say Iranian officials believed Trump would lose, and that he would be easier to kill after the election. Shakeri is believed to be in Iran and has not been arrested, so the case rests on U.S. evidence and his reported statements to investigators. In a different case, a federal jury convicted Asif Merchant, a trained operative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, of murder for hire and terrorism after he admitted that the Guard sent him to the United States to arrange political assassinations, including of U.S. government officials such as Trump. These verdicts show that, at least in some instances, Iranian-linked actors were doing more than talking.
Iran’s Denial and the War of Narratives
Iran’s government, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, has publicly denied that it ever plotted to assassinate Donald Trump. In an interview, Pezeshkian said, “Iran has never made any attempts to assassinate anyone, nor does it intend to, at least to my knowledge,” and answered “None whatsoever” when asked about any scheme to eliminate Trump. He has described the allegations as another tactic used by Israel and others to spread fear of Iran and justify pressure or conflict.
Tehran has also denied targeting Trump in connection with the Shakeri and Merchant cases, even as U.S. officials point to those prosecutions as proof of Iran-backed plotting. Iran has not offered detailed counter-evidence to explain or rebut the specific U.S. filings and trial testimony, choosing instead broad denials and claims of political motive. For many Americans already skeptical of both foreign regimes and their own government, this clash of stories—with limited public evidence and plenty of spin on each side—deepens the sense that ordinary people are stuck between propaganda wars.
How This Fits a Bigger Pattern of Threats and Power Politics
Threats against U.S. presidents are not new. History shows that almost every modern president has faced multiple plots and attacks, usually by lone actors with personal motives, not by foreign states. What stands out here is the allegation of organized, state-backed efforts by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to kill a former president on American soil, paired with fresh claims from Israel that Iran is still considering such a move. That combination raises the stakes far beyond one man and points to the risk of wider war.
President Trump on Friday claimed he has left instructions to bomb Iran “at levels that they’ve never seen before” should Tehran assassinate him.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with,” he told the New York Post. “The only thing is, I’ve left…
— Alec Gormley (@AlecGormle) July 10, 2026
At the same time, this story feeds a deep, growing frustration shared by many conservatives and liberals. People see intelligence claims used to justify strikes, sanctions, and secret deals, while basic questions go unanswered. Who sees the raw evidence? Why are key facts hidden from the public? Are assassination warnings being used to keep Trump on edge, shape U.S. policy, or lock in endless conflict in the Middle East? With Washington elites and foreign power players trading accusations and leaks, many citizens feel once again that their safety and the rule of law are secondary to quiet agendas.
Sources:
mediaite.com, nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com, youtube.com, x.com, facebook.com, nbcnews.com, en.wikipedia.org, theviolenceproject.org